r/sandiego • u/NochillWill123 City Heights • 2d ago

San Diego police non-emergency is a joke

Today I woke up to a car blocking the drive way I was in and had to goto work. Called 3 different towing companies all said need to call police since it’s public street. Then I called the non emergency hotline and cops never showed up . I guess people can get away with parking where ever on the street .

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u/GrammerSnob 2d ago

We need to split the police into (at least) two different entities.

One entity for when a "good guy with a gun" is actually warranted. Robberies, violence, etc.

A second entity for situations where a different kind of training and resolution is necessary. Minor disputes, blocked cars, etc.

Right now we have this "one size fits all" approach where a single department is expected to have training and experience to deal with murders, suicides, mental health crises, disputes between neighbors, juvenile issues, domestic violence, addiction, homlessness, etc etc... It's too much.

"Defund the police" is an awful moniker, but I really do believe we need to relieve the burden off police so that they can focus solely on one category of crime, and let different agencies take up the slack and be more responsive to stuff like "my neighbor blocked my driveway" types of crime.

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u/TheWayofTheSchwartz 2d ago

I work with LEO and they say the exact same thing. Defund the police, but shrink their area of responsibility to just what they're really trained to do so they can do it well.

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u/chaostheories36 2d ago

Real question, what are they trained for that they can do well? Im looking for a genuine answer as to what the average cop in America, today, is better at than any other profession.

I’m an MFT and I would love to be dispatched to domestic disputes instead of guy with gun.

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u/climaxingwalrus 2d ago

Firemen and ambulances seem to be able to handle all 911 calls without killing people.

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u/chaostheories36 2d ago

Which is kind of my exact point. Firemen and EMTs don’t kill people.

Are they in danger by the very nature of their jobs, just the same as police? Yes. They understand and accept that risk.

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u/climaxingwalrus 2d ago

Oh yeah I was doing the thing where I reply to a random higher up comment on the thread whoops

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u/chaostheories36 2d ago

No mistake made. We agree that police seem to get a lot of funding to do a lot of things and suck at all of those things.

My one question is what are the police supposed to be good at.

Annnnnd it’s probably arresting people of color

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u/YoureGrammerIsWorsts Local Archaeologist ⛏ 1d ago

Which is why there's never been a popular song called "Fuck the Firemen"

Well I'm sure that sentiment is actually really popular, but most for different reasons

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u/harrypotternightmare 2d ago

MFTs can apply to and are often employed as part of the PERT teams. https://www.irecruit-us.com/jobRequest.php?OrgID=I20140912&RequestID=66e46ac0838671

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u/GaeanGerhard 2d ago

A lot of cops get killed at Domestic Disputes. Maybe some lack of training, but often the abuser is armed. Having two specialist support each other instead of one size fits all would be better. I think the best use of their time is for active crime scenes like break ins or robberies.