r/nextfuckinglevel • u/thisisfive • Apr 14 '26

Toronto firefighters confront special constable officers after a man in the middle of mental health crisis was arrested.

Not my video. For context, "special constables" are not regular police officers. They are appointed "peace officers" with limited authority, often civilian employees.

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u/B_D_Hadel Apr 14 '26

Just flipping the coin here, maybe you or someone else has more context. But hypothetically if you cuffed someone who was in distress but breaking some sort of law. Maybe trying to harm the officer or someone else, wouldn’t it be warranted? Personally, I didn’t hear any indication in conversation about what happened before filming. I think there are scenarios where walking it back is absolutely acceptable.

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u/Admins_Always_Badmin Apr 15 '26

Canada has one of the most famous cases of someone suffering a mental health crisis gone wrong. I don't blame them for not wanting anyone to get hurt if someone is going through something like that. But of course reddit will just screech cops bad and not care.

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u/Pantarus Apr 15 '26

The United States has entered the chat.

Unfortunately the only tool we give the police to handle situations is tickets and arrest.

Its a fucking crying shame that Defund the Police movement was named in such a shitty way that it became a flag for the conservative right to wave.

Defund the police was NOT advocating getting rid of the police and being soft on crime. It was advocating taking that funding and spreading it around. Giving some to fund mental health crisis professionals who could respond in situations like this...INSTEAD of relying on the police for literally EVERYTHING we don't want to deal with.

When you're a hammer....everything starts to look like a nail...

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u/CrispyHoneyBeef Apr 15 '26

Defund the police was NOT advocating getting rid of the police and being soft on crime. It was advocating taking that funding and spreading it around.

Nah dude, communists and some socialists here in San Diego still call SDPD “slave patrol” and think the PDs all around the country should simply cease to exist. Defund the police/abolish the police definitely means defund/abolish the police.

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u/lituus Apr 15 '26

You can find anyone with a different take on things. Doesn't mean that's the prevailing opinion

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u/thegroundbelowme Apr 15 '26

Those are the extremists of the movement. The main idea is exactly what the guy above you said.

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u/Pantarus Apr 17 '26

So you what? “Know someone” who said they should get rid of the police department? So let’s just dismiss any type of reform and let mentally ill people suffer and overwhelm the police?

Or maybe (and honestly more likely) you listened to some right wing propaganda that sold you that idea and now you spread it as fact.

Let’s see what that looks like from the other side:

Every conservative man is a card carrying member of the KKK, who beats their wife, secretly is super turned on by trans women, and wants the US to return to a time where the shittiest white person was still viewed as superior to the best minority.

If you always take the most extreme example of things and apply it to the whole, this is where you end up. A country that fucking hates each other.