State of the State 2023 Jan 10, 2023 at 4:38 pm

Crisis Care, Not Jail, Is the Answer

We need non-police alternatives to crisis response. Here's the path forward. Anthony Keo

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1

How to fail the landing: end an otherwise-sensible article with this nonsense.

“Until they do, our jails and emergency rooms will remain packed with people whose problems could have been solved by a few hours in a safe place to chat with a mental health care provider.”

Yeah, persons who’ve been living in tents for years, stealing to feed their addictions, and resolving their disputes violently, simply need a few good hours and they’ll be just peachy.

The point of threatening arrest is for those many cases where the homeless persons currently refuse services. The credible threat of arrest enforces the social contract: the taxpayers who fund the services get their parks and sidewalks back, thefts decline, and the homeless persons get treatment. Leaving the ability to refuse treatment intact would simply perpetuate the dismal status quo, and Seattle has seen enough homeless persons die already.


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