New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced an initiative that would give the city more leeway to involuntarily hospitalize severely mentally ill people on the city's subways and streets, even if they do not appear to pose an immediate danger to others.
"My administration is determined to do more to assist people with mental illness, especially those with untreated psychotic disorders, posing a risk of harm to themselves, even if they are not an imminent threat to the public," Adams said Tuesday. "It is not acceptable for us to see someone who clearly needs help and walk past. For too long, there has been a gray area where policy, law and accountability have not been clear and this has allowed people in need to slip through the cracks."
Adams, a former police officer, said the city will be training Emergency Medical Services staff and other medical personnel to "ensure compassionate care." He said the policy he's proposing "explicitly states" when it is appropriate to use this process to hospitalize a person suffering from mental illness even if they do not want to go.
I am sure many of you share my concern about the role that severe mental illness plays in mass murder and this is not new. Out of 1916 mass murder incidents before 1960, 308 involved mental illness--the single largest category. There is also the misery of living on the street in the cold, eating out dumpsters, often the victims of violent crimes when they are the criminals. I know that many progressives object to the loss of human dignity from being hospitalized.
In a mental hospital: they will not freeze to death; they will have meals that lack mold; they will have medical care; they may even receive the mental health care to help them get their lives back on track, Where is the indignity in that?
While it seems like a good idea on its face, do you really trust the government to only incarcerate...er...hospitalize only those that "pose a risk to themselves?" Yes, I agree, people that legitimately need to be off the streets because of their mental illness, but I sure as heck don't trust the government and its handmaiden (psychiatry).
ReplyDeleteLack of due process in SOME state commitment laws was the problem that started us down this horrifying road. Due process guarantees are enough.
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