Lets put it all in the police basket.

Kia Ora,

Well this morning an article that really gets my blood boiling. We have groups set up to help people like those with mental illness, but when it all goes wrong the head lines read "Police .....".

One of the reasons I have seen the police do less & less actual old style policing is the other issues that end up on their lap.

For example when dealing with mental health patients here in NZ once told by a designated mental health worker under the Mental Health act 1992 to remain in place to watch over a person under assessment, the police must do so.

When working security in a major NZ hospital I have actually seen this at its worst. Two police officers arrived in with this individual & whilst he was awaiting assessment by psych emergency, a call came over their radios for assistance by another officer.

As they had not being ordered to remain I said I would watch over him. Then if they hadn't assessed him within half an hour we would call in a patient watch guard which would come out of psych emergencies budget.

It almost worked. The police were about to move out when one of the staff came out, realized what was going on & ordered them to remain under the mental health act.

It was farcical. Here were two officers who you could see were wanting to go back up their mate (as any good police, military or security person does), but due to bureaucracy they were hamstrung.

Just another area that has landed in the police lap were maybe private security could carry it out as a specialized task. This would free up police for policing. There are so many areas where this could apply.

But instead it is thrown at the police, who then have to priortise as best they can, & they then get the blame when something goes wrong.