Looks like sectioning is now going to become a sternly worded suggestion in London the

yeah saw this

don’t know how i feel about it tbh - on the one hand i would in no way call the police if someone i knew was having a mental health episode

on the other, this is cost-cutting and they’re hardly going to increase medical / mental health support

but there’s an outside chance the pressure on the nhs of this clearly dangerous move means they’ll ultimately have to divert funds to mental health support?

incredibly dangerous if you live with someone with a mental health issue of course (though let’s be honest would they have been safer with the police called??)

i dunno i’m of two minds on it

Think this makes sense 

The (Tory created) mental health crisis needs to be solved by none police public services unless there is an emergency or threat to life 

Wot Davos sed.

Mental Health makes up about 20% of frontline work currently. S136 is a power we can use but it is often overused.
It’s better than it used to be when we took detainees to the cells (horrific practice) but we should not be dealing with the vast majority of these cases.

I mean they can't say to 999 callers "ok so he's got a knife - how would you estimate his capacity?"

i mean i assume that would warrant a police callout

more like avoiding “oh your dog snapped at another dog, we’ll head over with guns, kill them and then tazer you for good measure”

Jim will know more about this than me but my understanding is Police have absolutely no mental health power over someone who is in a dwelling (their home, someone else's home, a hotel room etc...)  All they do is turn up and sit with them and hope they can persuade them to attend hospital or go with ambulance as a volunteer.

Several forces have done the same - said they will stop attending mental health calls in the absence of an immediate threat to life.  I think it's a good idea.  Someone in mental health crisis is not a Police matter, any more than it is a fire brigade or coastguard matter.  

 

Spot on EP. We can very occasionally use the mental capacity act in those circs but it’s rare that even someone suicidal does not have capacity. Sometimes have to wait for them to pass out before we can do anything.

It’s all about funding. Pay for better public services, not Supply Teacher Sunak to take helicopters everywhere while his family and pals rinse the country for billions. 

@ EP

That will come as news, I think, to the police officers who sectioned my stepfather (who has dementia) when he assaulted my mother last year because he thought she was someone else.

As gym said - it could be the Mental Capacity Act.

There is also the 'ways and means' act.  Which involves creative use of the law to achieve the right outcome.