I didn't say they should be social workers, I suggested they have a degree in social work. Police encounters with those in mental distress (either temporary due

I didn't say they should be social workers, I suggested they have a degree in social work. Police encounters with those in mental distress (either temporary due to a crisis or a deeper mental illness such as schizophrenia) frequently end in tragedy. I want to believe that a police officer trained as a social worker would have a much better chance of de-escalation a personal than current police do. The alternative is to have unarmed social workers, untrained in police work, accompany police officers to mental distress calls. This brings with it a host of other problems including, but not limited to, the possibility of the social worker being injured or killed in an altercation with an armed person in distress.