I live right in the middle of a hotspot for "street people" in SF. I struggle internally with this question daily, because I see many mentally ill people roaming the streets just outside my apartment. I've run the whole gamut of solutions and emotions for the past 5 years, and I can only come to this solution: let them refuse treatment, but make living on the street the least viable option for them.
I know deep down there isn't much that can be done without incarcerating them, but I also know that taking someone's freedom without proper cause is worse than letting them possibly die by their own choice. There's too much potential to abuse power that let's you lock up someone who is, by and large, law-abiding but mentally disturbed. The hair splitting is dangerous.
That being said, in short order I will likely move to a location in SF where I don't have to see this tragedy play out day to day. If I can't help, and I don't like the current solution, at least I can avoid the situation altogether.
I know deep down there isn't much that can be done without incarcerating them, but I also know that taking someone's freedom without proper cause is worse than letting them possibly die by their own choice. There's too much potential to abuse power that let's you lock up someone who is, by and large, law-abiding but mentally disturbed. The hair splitting is dangerous.
That being said, in short order I will likely move to a location in SF where I don't have to see this tragedy play out day to day. If I can't help, and I don't like the current solution, at least I can avoid the situation altogether.