Absolutely this.
The amount of mental health related jobs that cops deal with has gone up exponentially in the nigh on quarter century that I have been in the job, where ambulance, social services or mental health teams know that we can't say no. Other stuff includes .......
* Constant watches in custody for violent or vulnerable persons.
* Hospital watches where a detained person requires hospital treatment and a guard is required.
* Detained persons that require to be interviewed as handling teams may not always have capacity to deal.
* File preparation - This can involve fairly complex files for the CPS where advice files for charge are pretty much a full file including redactions of personal details, editing of body cam footage ( by that I mean that anyone not involved has to be pixelated out and personal information given has to be edited out ), and contrary to some elements of rumour and the media, body cam footage cannot be deleted with the one that I use being placed into a dock where the footage is dowloaded. The original of the footage recorded that is not edited must be sent with the file as well. This is a very time consuming task that often lies with response officers.
* Sudden deaths don't occupy that much of a cops time I would say. If the death is expected an not suspicious then there is often no requirement to attend. If it is not expected then the cops will attend and ascertain that there are no suspicious circumstances, liaise with an appropriate undertaker an prepare a report for the coroner.
* Training abstractions are often indeed. Tickets that I have include taser, public order, method of entry and they must be refreshed at least once a year as does first aid, trauma medic training, personal safety training and use of irritant spray.
