Changes to controversial police Mental Health Act powers may only be a sideways step
(WorldNews Health)

Tana888 / Shutterstock.com Worldwide, someone dies by suicide every 40 seconds . More than 6,000 people ended their own lives in the UK last year and it is estimated that for every completed suicide, there are many more attempts. So perhaps it is unsurprising that around 80% of police detentions under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act relate to suicide prevention. This is the police power that allows an officer to remove someone from a public place to a place of safety for a mental health assessment if that person´s mental state appears to be placing them or others at risk. The use of police cells as a `place of safety` has generated much of the ongoing controversy this power has...