How are they being trained to discern a mentally ill individual from someone who is, for example, just very, very agitated? Officers are not trained mental health professionals. There is the extreme possibility that these officers may very well decide to dump someone who is NOT mentally ill with one of the facilities, such as SouthEastern (mentioned in the article). Where do THEY make the decision of where the line is drawn between mental illness and not mentally ill? I see very strong probabilities of misuse of power here as well. It might feasibly reduce the burden on the jails, but it will increase the burden on the mental health and ER facilities (if ERs are used as "dumping sites". Andrew