A lack of proper real-time interventions and proactive supports leads to unsustainable stresses among young and old alike. As the pressure cooker boils over, the resulting behaviours end up getting noticed by police officers who are often as not are the first and last contact Emotionally Disturbed People (EDPs) have with the system.
Police have unusually high divorce rates. There are many reasons for this - they work variable shifts and can be called in on emergencies, meaning that they are, by the nature of what they do, married to their jobs - spouses can feel like they are the third wheel in the relationship.
It's all well and good to tell police they need to be virtuous, disciplined and calm all the time and that what their ultimate reward is the service they provide. It's still a hell of a sacrifice to make with nowhere near enough public recognition.
We're far more interested in focusing on the negative, Sammy Yatim side of policing - what matters to us is where our rights are infringed moreso than how they're upheld.
Tikkun olam is not achieved by treating symptoms and growing frustrated at their growing complexity. We realize a healthy society by identifying the disease and curing it.
It might not feel like it, most days, but that's a process underway right now - not only in the justice system, but in the way governance works, the way human and social services are provided, the way people are empowered and included within society.
The picture emerging is promising, though there is now a definitive race between those trying to fix the system and those agitating to burn it down.
It's a cycle we've seen before; when you're lost, after all, you do tend to walk in circles. Time will tell if the stars are finally aligning to provide the direction we have been waiting for.
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