James Finn
Aug 26, 2021

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This is what people mean when they talk about defunding the police. Notice how a drunk and disoriented woman who likely was a danger to herself was not offered aid by the EMTs, who passed the "problem" off to law enforcement, who handled the situation with heavy-handed anger and bullying.

No civil authority involved put first the well being of an incapacitated woman. She probably needed to be transported to a medical facility, hydrated, and offered the help of social services.

But because the situation became a matter for the cops, that’s not what happened, and it’s usually not what happens in similar incidents. When every problem gets treated like a nail, a hammer often seems like the only appropriate tool.

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James Finn
James Finn

Written by James Finn

James Finn is an LGBTQ columnist, a former Air Force intelligence analyst, an alumnus of Act Up NY, and an agented but unpublished novelist.

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