I'm dealing with a mentally ill person right now. A police officer lives under the threat of being shot and killed if they are directing traffic by the same mentally ill people.They don't get it; you can't negotiate a resolution to a violent, or potentially violent, conflict from a position of weakness.Because you send a mediator out first
Here's the thing ... ambulance and firefighters won't go into a potential conflict without police escort.
I'm pretty sure the skinny guy with a state college bachelors in interpersonal conflict resolution isn't going to last very long in that job.
If the person you're telling to calm down knows you can't arrest him, or beat him down, he ain't going to listen to anything you say, he's going to at best ignore you, and maybe beat you to death for not minding your own business.
The people who are coming up with these ideas have no clue about how conflict is actually managed in the real world.
And they're going to get some people hurt, and probably killed.
I don't expect you to understand but here it goes...
Sending out a mediator doesn't empty the options box. The next people to show up will arrest someone. There is no "position of weakness".
Your dealing with mentally ill people who will kill if your wearing the wrong shoes