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As a Security Officer at a public library that had become a defacto homeless shelter, I've had more than my fair share of experience with the mentally ill. I felt bad about having to evict them, but I couldn't let them stay. This was a library, not a homeless shelter or mental facility. In the early days I searched and begged for a number I could call in such cases. Never got anything. I worked the county jail right before taking the job at the library. I was amazed at how much of the clientele from the former I interacted at with the latter. "Hey Boss," they'd call as they came in. "I wondered where you went."
I know it sounds simple minded, but we need to punish (or lock up) the evil, help the ill, and protect the innocent. My brief, and tangential, experience with law-enforcement gave me no comfort that either is common in our system.
Don't misunderstand me. I still whole heartedly support the COs and POs on the front lines. I'm saddened at the politicians in uniform at the top, leading us further and further from a workable solution.