Thread-
it is unfortunate that easy to say slogans can wipe out an entire movement. “Defund the police” does not mean “eliminate the police”, but unfortunately, it can be used as a weapon against reform since the vast majority Americans don’t read beyond slogans and headlines.
it is unfortunate that easy to say slogans can wipe out an entire movement. “Defund the police” does not mean “eliminate the police”, but unfortunately, it can be used as a weapon against reform since the vast majority Americans don’t read beyond slogans and headlines.
I wish it was “re-think the police”, “re-imagine the police” or something like that.
I see police’s problems much like the problems nationwide in emergency medicine since EMTALA made emergency departments nationwide the dumping ground for all of society’s ills.
I see police’s problems much like the problems nationwide in emergency medicine since EMTALA made emergency departments nationwide the dumping ground for all of society’s ills.
I’ve always identified with cops more than even other doctors, because i see the same frustrations with our jobs and our “clients”. Let me explain-
Both of our professions are trained in a particular skill set. Mine is identifying and stabilizing immediate life threats.
Both of our professions are trained in a particular skill set. Mine is identifying and stabilizing immediate life threats.
So when people come into see me because they are stressed out, or their back is hurting for 20 years, or they have a cold, or they can’t afford a dentist or whatever, I necessarily have to look at it through the lens of ruling-out life threats.
Which leaves both me and the pt frustrated, because I don’t have the training or resources to help them the way they need, and they leave with more debt, no closer to a solution. I can only say sorry, and refer them out to a broken medical system, and hope they figure it out.
Cops are trained to enforce the law and hunt for bad guys. But due to society’s priorities, they eat up a huge portion of a budget, and they get lots of toys-tanks, guns, grenades, effectively making them a military force, one that is highly variable in quality from city to city.
We basically deploy small units of soldiers to deal with mental health patients, family disagreements, homeless people just being homeless in the wrong places. This is unfair to both the police and the people they serve.
Because we are sending people who are untrained in effectively dealing with these situations into them with guns. These people are HARD to deal with, and occasionally DO require force, but in my experience, not terribly often. We see them in the ER in crisis as well.
These situations often escalate in the field because when you approach these tough situations with a gun and a commanding position of authority, people push back. Especially when they are in distress, intoxicated or angry.
Wouldn’t it be nice to demilitarize our police, put them out in the community, let them do what they do best, and leave the other stuff for specially trained social/medical pros that could be paid more than a pittance.That’s a win, win for cops AND those they protect and serve.
We are burned out and angry in EM all over the US. And it’s not b/c we take care of sick ppl. We LOVE to take care of sick people. We are burned out because the system requires us to spend so much time and energy on problems that we don’t have the resources or training to solve.
I imagine it’s similar for cops.They want to catch bad guys, not roust a homeless person for lingering too long somewhere, or try to be a relationship counselor, or any of the other non-criminal things that they try to referee in combat gear with a gun.
We need a complete re-do, in policing and medicine,before we all lose our souls and lose sight of the humanity in those we are charged to protect. When we become burned out, we make mistakes.We mock, we criticize, we lash out.We lose our capacity for empathy. And people get hurt.
