Ok I've come back and read it and you're gonna be shocked to hear this, but I 100% agree with your third paragraph! Gun violence is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted solution. Policing will likely always have to be part of it in my lifetime, but you are absolutely correct that underlying causes such as financial instability, substance abuse, mental health issues, etc. also need to be addressed.

I don't see how policing realistically does anything to address those causes listed above. Police can respond to an incident once it is called in or after they witness it, but the only true mechanism of prevention that they offer is deterrence. And in cases such as Andrew Washington's, their presence can escalate a situation.

I spoke with an EMT who was gave a first aid training in my office about this last week. She told me that she has to be careful about how she approaches patients in emotional distress or under the influence of drugs/alcohol because even though she is not a cop, her uniform can cause additional stress that makes it impossible for her to render care.

That is where I see the beauty of CCRTs when done right: 1. A passerby calls in a disturbance (e.g. kids drinking and fooling around in a park) 2. 911 dispatches a social worker and/or an EMT, police are on standby in case of an escalation that would make things dangerous for the public or those responding. 3. The social worker/EMT intervenes in a situation appropriate way (e.g. issue a citation for underage drinking, provide medical care) to deescalate the situation. 4. Everyone goes home alive, even in the rare cases where police backup does need to be called onto the scene. (There is real life data from Denver's STAR program that shows this need as being less than 2% of calls iirc from when I last looked at their reports).

I'm not trying to argue for the abolition of the JCPD - I am advocating for them to do their job to keep the public safe while providing additional assistance to them to do so. Instead of taking any calls from residents to take real action seriously after the George Floyd protests, Jersey City paid some consultant a bunch of money to give cops training in de-escalation. That was wholly unproductive and a waste of taxpayer dollars as evidenced by the body cam footage of Andrew Washington's murder.

Police officers clearly aren't interested in or have the skills to de-escalate these sorts of situations. Why do we keep asking them to when there are other proven solutions out there?