Forwarding data on mental patients to the Ministry of the Interior and monitoring them by the police will not help to protect themselves from cases of aggression. First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection Sergei Leonov reported this to socialbites.ca. In his opinion, the problem would be solved if police officers had the right to forcibly hand over people who lead an asocial lifestyle to medical institutions.
“The Ministry of Internal Affairs has a lot of data on citizens of the Russian Federation. If he has mental health information, this shouldn’t cause any problems. Rather, they will have information that they can learn about a possible crime. On the other hand, forcing the police to track down mentally ill people and take responsibility for it is not entirely correct on my part. This should be done by the health authorities, neuropsychiatry boarding schools, dispensaries where they are registered. When a mentally ill person lives in an apartment and arranges a meeting in his apartment, a problem arises and all the neighbors get hurt. But nothing can be done about this person. If relatives apply somehow, they cannot be taken to the hospital against their will. Whether this is handed over to the police or not, this will not solve the problem in any way. If the police had secured the right to give birth by force to a psychiatric hospital, believing that a person is dangerous, but just to observe, watch – this is an extra bureaucracy for the police, an extra burden for the district commissioners. We can even say that the police missed it if he suddenly did something. In this context, I disagree with that. “We need to have a clear understanding of how we can isolate these people from others they interfere with every day,” he said.
Leonov believes that it is necessary to create a system in which aggressors can be examined and hospitalized in medical institutions. According to him, a whistleblowing hotline can be established to which citizens can apply in connection with such situations.
“People suffer, so there must be a strict mechanism, when there is a commission decision that a person is dangerous to society and dangerous to others, he is sent to a private medical institution. Here, the question is not in the Ministry of Interior, but the problem of social services, the Ministry of Health. Only the Attorney General’s Office can help because they can take certain initiatives. When there is a clearly established system, people will know that such comrades live with them, they will call the appropriate number. A commission comes with the police, guardianship, social services, doctors, inspects the house, examines these people. Citizens will be vigilant, they will know that they can apply to a kind of whistleblowing hotline and precautions will be taken. Of course, these measures will not always be needed, but preventive work will be carried out by all authorities and all structures. Special arrangements must be made so that everyone knows what they are responsible for and what they are doing, and they must have appropriate rights. “There should be a flexible system here, maybe not entirely in favor of human rights, but it will save many lives and improve the lives of people around,” he said.
Earlier, Deputy Head of the Main Directorate for Supervision of the Execution of Federal Legislation of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, Irina Rebrina, in a speech to the State Duma Security Committee, said that the department advocates police control over the mentally ill. . At the same time, the Prosecutor General’s Office proposes not to interfere in the treatment process of such patients, but only to monitor them by specially authorized bodies, to receive information from neighbors and close relatives.