There are countless cases from Florida that don't honor constitutional rights or due process. When people fear how badly things may turn, look at where Florida is now, and watch to see how many other states follow.
It probably should be easier, but there needs to be a set process for doing it correctly.
Here in Portland we set up an agency called Portland Street Response to respond to 911 calls that might not necessarily need police involvement.
Someone is in a mental health crisis, but not threatening themselves or others? Street Response pulls up instead of the cops.
BUT -
They can't put anyone on a psych hold. They can offer advice, point someone to resources, try to talk them down, but they can't have someone committed.
It probably should be easier, but there needs to be a set process for doing it correctly.
Absolutely not, it’s a massive violation of people’s autonomy already.
Someone is in a mental health crisis, but not threatening themselves or others? Street Response pulls up instead of the cops.
but they can't have someone committed.
Which, in my mind, kind of defeats the purpose.
I think it’s completely unacceptable to involuntarily commit people that aren’t even threatening anyone. Let alone “threatening themselves” which is equally a concept that goes against autonomy and should not be a valid reason for commitment either. And I’m not even talking about how often abused this is in practice.
That is weird. We have mobile crisis teams that don’t like to put people away but they can. Although it’s also a separate line from 911, which makes it tricky