True Blue Line

We agree that police shouldn't replace social workers, psychiatrists and other mental healthcare specialists. In the vast majority of cases, police welfare checks lead to positive outcomes. However, as Samantha Lee writes "why are we relying on police to be first responders to a mental health crisis in the first place?" "We need to invest in multidisciplinary responses to critical incidents involving mental health crises. We need well-funded and well-thought-out alternatives to the current “welfare check” model that places police in situations for which they are ill-equipped. It’s a model that can have horrendous consequences for the person whose welfare is being checked, and the family and friends who have made a call with concern for a person’s welfare." Police serve a plethora of roles to help the society living in a badly broken system, and it's time to fix that system and let police focus on policing.