I mean the idea of sending in a social worker first to some situations makes sense. Then the police is there for back up if it is really needed. Then you don't waste so much of the actual polices's time.

This just seems like they are keeping the police just changing the name.

Haven't you heard? The Biden Administration is going to ban guns, and then the streets will magically be SAFE! Laws are already being PASSED!

Who to send in only makes sense in hind sight. When 911 gets a call it is very limited and sometimes biased info.
“I hear a lot of banging and a woman screaming “ is that a murder a fight or an amorous encounter?
“ someone wearing a white robe carrying a long black thing over his shoulder” is that a kkk guy with agun or a priest with an umbrella.
This will end when the fourth social worker is stabber and they refuse to go out first like manyEMTs do.

“I mean the idea of sending in a social worker first to some situations makes sense. Then the police is there for back up if it is really needed. Then you don't waste so much of the actual polices's time.”

Layers upon layers of taxpayers funded bureaucracy. What do you think the police will be doing while they are waiting to get called out for something serious?

You don’t need yet another government employee for this. This is what the neighbors and business owners are for. They are the first responders to any situation, and the ones who rightly or wrongly decide they can’t safely handle it themselves and call the police.

This just seems like they are keeping the police just changing the name. ~ NicoleK at February 23, 2021 11:49 PM

In some cases, not even changing it. The legendary Texas Rangers are part of that state's Department of Public Safety.

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Haven't you heard? The Biden Administration is going to ban guns, and then the streets will magically be SAFE! Laws are already being PASSED! ~ Radwaste at February 24, 2021 3:57 AM

The current Biden proposal is that all military-looking guns will be banned; along with magazines holding more than 10 rounds.

That very few mass shooters use AR-15 style weapons means nothing to gun control advocates. It's not about stopping mass shootings, it's about punishing gun-loving rednecks.

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This will end when the fourth social worker is stabber and they refuse to go out first like manyEMTs do. ~ Joe j at February 24, 2021 5:20 AM

Traditionally, EMTs wear uniforms and have sometimes been mistaken for police officers. While uniforms do give emergency workers authority in chaos, they are usually pretty similar and don't always enable outsiders to distinguish between agencies. That was done intentionally as bickering with civilians who question an agency's authority to respond to a particular situation can delay assistance getting to those who need it.

Some fire departments are switching uniforms to avoid any confusion with police. Several cities are putting their firefighters in t-shirts. Some have told firefighters to stop wearing their badges in an effort to make them look less like police.

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When 911 gets a call it is very limited and sometimes biased info. ~ Joe j at February 24, 2021 5:20 AM

Police are trained to deal with situations ranging from violence to lost puppies. To protect themselves, they approach every situation with the worst that could happen in mind - a sum of all fears mentality. It's what keeps them alive when things go south.

Perhaps this approach does contribute in some way to them sometimes getting a violent response. Social workers not trained to prepare for violence might approach a situation without preparing to shoot someone if necessary. That approach may provoke a more peaceful response. At least that's the theory.

Still, someone's gonna get stabbed, eventually. And that will start to change the initial approach, probably back to one that favors a prepared, and possibly armed, approach.

Why, you may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table together - what do you get? The sum of their fears. ~ Winston Churchill.

Sometimes the EMT uniform thing is true. Sometimes it’s X wants Y dead, and if you try to save Y you get attacked too. With this Summer riots fire depts were often stopped by the rioters because they want it to burn.

The City of Sunnyvale in California has a Department of Public Safety. Public Safety Officers work as both police and firefighters. But yes, they will still pull you over and ticket you for traffic violations.

If you get a call that someone is suicidal, sure, send in a social worker. If it is a 6year old also. But domestic disputes turn out to be the most dangerous outside of arresting a felon, social workers will get killed. Also dangerous are crazy people, but it is also true that cops will sometimes shoot the crazy who are not actively dangerous just non-compliant (or in one case I read dancing naked in the middle of the street with a knife).
This idea of replacing cops with social workers assumes that most of what cops do is respond to 911 disturbance calls but that is false. They help find lost children, show up at fires, help with car crashes, pick up the homeless when the temperatures go too cold, deal with drunks. When you go to arrest someone you better have a gun. It is pure magical thinking. People are more in danger from pulling the cops out than they are of getting shot by one. In chicago carjackings have gone up 277% last I saw. Shootings and all violent crime are up because criminals know the cops have been pulled back.

“911. Please listen closely because our menu options have changed . . .”

“911. Please listen closely because our menu options have changed . . .”

When seconds count, it only takes a few minutes to talk to the right person, and a few more to have someone dispatched.

> Conan the Grammarian at
> February 24, 2021 7:05 AM

✔

> Wfjag at
> February 24, 2021 11:10 AM

✔

Sounds like Ithaca just became another place to avoid. Not like I was planning on going there anyway.

" What do you think the police will be doing while they are waiting to get called out for something serious? "

Hopefully getting an actual education in law enforcement so they can stop generating expensive lawsuits for the taxpayers.

Some Things Detwaddled about this.

You don't want the job.

This sort of program seems to be good so far in Denver

https://denverite.com/2021/02/02/in-the-first-six-months-of-health-care-professionals-replacing-police-officers-no-one-they-encountered-was-arrested/?fbclid=IwAR3tvItZBFnYAM-IoPNxeSU2vvnY1HDz2EpVnvlxkXKxyV-jiAieyLcyFZI

This sort of program seems to be good so far in Denver

https://denverite.com/2021/02/02/in-the-first-six-months-of-health-care-professionals-replacing-police-officers-no-one-they-encountered-was-arrested/?fbclid=IwAR3tvItZBFnYAM-IoPNxeSU2vvnY1HDz2EpVnvlxkXKxyV-jiAieyLcyFZI

NicoleK at February 25, 2021 11:08 AM

Yet, when you read the article, you will notice that the police are still apparently, the first responders. Once they determine that it is a non violet mental illness situation, they call in the social workers.

Nic, the neighborhood depicted in the photo doesn't seem like the kind where cops are most deeply at risk for bad outcomes with locals.