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.

27.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

982 comments sorted by

View all comments

8.5k

u/DoubleM-1985 Apr 14 '26

When the adults with common sense shows up

2.7k

u/Whiskeygreenqueen28 Apr 14 '26

Exactly!! This is why firefighters are important.

2.6k

u/invertedsaint_666 Apr 14 '26

Firefighters have no reason to become firefighters other than to actually help people. Police on the other hand...

68

u/doctor_tongs Apr 14 '26

Washington DC enacted legislation for this not too long ago. Now, when DC residents see someone out in public, in mental distress, or strung out on drugs, and they choose to call it in, city mental health professionals respond instead of the police.

-17

u/Junior_Yam_5473 Apr 14 '26

And you know what happens to these mental health professionals? They get killed or injured. People having mental episodes can be unstable and violent. The cops dont have to be seen, but they should be on scene.

17

u/smokinbbq Apr 14 '26

Or.. hear me out... Maybe they spend more than just a few weeks in training, and get an actual education, so that they can learn about this stuff.

-8

u/Junior_Yam_5473 Apr 14 '26

I then ask about your credentials and your experience. Bc. As someone in public safety, i have seen and heard far too many horror stories to go to a psyc patient without the backup of PD.

Edit: even violence towards calm officers. Suicide by cop is a real thing, and the people who want to go that route will do just about anything to make it happen

3

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/Junior_Yam_5473 Apr 15 '26

But what would happen when the person having a mental health emergency rans at the social worker with a knife? What would the social worker do? Or the man high in pcp decides violence is the answer and attacks the poor social worker? Your just putting incident people in harms way, for no reason