Compassionate Intervention

A few summers ago, a distressed, disheveled, probably homeless woman was delivering a disjointed speech to Paramount Theater patrons waiting on line to get in.

Most people ignored her. Some gazed at her surreptitiously.

Suddenly, a police car drove up and out came a young policeman who respectfully confronted this mentally ill woman. He couldn’t have been kinder to her if she had been his grandmother.

He wheeled her away, taking her I do not know where.

I remember being profoundly relieved, and grateful to witness such unexpected empathy, but then I wondered why a police officer was acting like a social worker, and how many would react that way.

Flash forward to the present. Austin recently decided to reallocate $150 million from the Austin Police Department’s budget to fund permanent housing, violence prevention, community health paramedics and mental health services.

As Councilman Alison Alter said, “We must recognize that relying exclusively or even predominantly on police and on punitive measures for our public safety needs comes with staggering costs, both fiscally and morally.”

By resurrecting cries of law and order, Gov. Abbott has hardened his heart to the cries of those in our city who need compassionate intervention, instead of self-righteous aggression — like that troubled, wheelchair bound woman in front of the Paramount.