M1ch431

Damn, here you are with all the gotchas. That's it, I concede the debate. You win. Congratulations to FreedomAdvocate for successfully arguing for the involuntary commitment of individuals accused of no crime.

The article doesn't specify, it only specifies additional training for law enforcement officers, but I highly doubt it will be the case that educated professionals go on the scene. The various mentions of first responders reads as first responders to me.

Democratic officials nationwide have increasingly embraced civil commitments in recent years as a way to address the colliding crises of homelessness, mental illness and crime in their communities.

You can't solve homelessness and crime with involuntary commitment. This is woefully ineffective policy, no matter how you cut it.

Are they getting a Masters? That's what a therapist needs. A bachelors? An associate degree?

None of the above? Then, they are not mental health professionals, and they are not qualified to identify mental illness.

Asking for our country's government to stop meddling in the Middle East and funneling a very large chunk of our money paid into it by taxpayers for war and offense isn't asking the world. We aren't barbarians, we can effortlessly provide for human needs with our technology and organization as a society.

Helping individuals live a basic life is a not an "expense". It's a misnomer to call it that. There would be many who would create more value to the economy than what is spent on them if they received the proper support and weren't put under so much pressure.

I have lived in the United States and I am privy to what our cops do. Qualified immunity is pretty all-encompassing.

They still aren't mental health professionals. A cop/etc. with a little training is not a replacement for a psychiatrist or other mental health professional. The bar for being even a therapist is very high in the US. There is absolutely no comparison to be made here between their level of education and training.

You are claiming that police respect due process and rights. You do not know the extent to which rights are violated by US law enforcement, or more recently and publicly, by ICE and the current administration.

I want to live in a kind and free world. Sorry you feel differently.

But many of these people couldn’t afford “affordable housing”, so it would need to be free. Food would need to be free, electricity would need to be free, water, internet, etc would all need to be free (for them, but paid for by taxpayers). Also where is the new affordable housing being built, and who is paying for it?

That would be up for the state of New York to determine. Housing is a right, whether or not the laws have caught up. Food is a right and so is water. Electricity isn't a luxury. If they could afford the housing at a later date, their eligibility for things being "free" should be re-evaluated.

Perhaps the many corporations and billionaires that dodge taxes could pay for it. Perhaps the federal government could stop spending trillions on war out of US taxpayer money and provide homes for homeless and vulnerable individuals? Perhaps, if we allow these individuals to feel safe and heal, without punishing them criminally or otherwise traumatizing them, they would later offset the expenses spent to better them.

Huh? The point was that using YOUR scenario, people could easily abuse the system to simply get free housing/food/etc by missing a rent payment and getting taken away and given a free house/food/etc.

You aren't abusing the system by needing a house. If we're talking free or affordable housing, again, there is a crisis, and it should be provided to individuals.

I didn't suggest that people are locked up for "simply for missing their rent". Never once did I suggest people are locked up permanently.

There are no mental health professionals that arrive on the scene. It could be EMT, firefighters, or police that initiate contact. None of the above are mental health professionals. A little training does not make you qualified.

Go advocate for freedom instead of arguing with me. Presumably, you aren't even from the United States, so how can you claim to be an expert?

When it comes to psychiatric holds, yes, that is effectively what happens. And definitely yes in many other instances.