It at least might give the people responding better empathy… but they’re still cops with guns (we don’t need armed police officers responding to these situations). But even so, I doubt it.

I work in an ED that has cop supervision for security purposes. We had a schizophrenic man in a psychotic state who was stuck with us waiting for placement for over 2 weeks (a story in it of itself). And multiple different cops (I actually lost count in how many) came up to me on multiple different occasions and just said absolutely horrific things about a clearly mentally ill man.

“They should just lock him up and throw away the key, he has crazy eyes, you can’t fix that”

“He doesn’t deserve a hospital bed while he’s waiting, he deserves to be locked in a cell”

“You guys shouldn’t even be interacting with this guy. He should be in a locked room with no windows and cameras”

“I don’t even know why he’s hear, you can’t fix him”

And this is in an incredibly wealthy suburb with cops who are supposed to be trained in dealing with mental health crises. And EVERY TIME they had to respond to him acting out, they made the situation worse.

The sooner we as a society realize and try to actually correct the flaws in our police force (that is, start over) the better off we all will be.

Yea these people shouldn’t be police department employees. They need to be completely separate.

Agree the signs are annoying, was just trying to clarify the laws around putting things into a mailbox since the person above you was incorrect as well. I actually think since you put a stamp on it, what you did would be legal, but I'm not a postman. Here's the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service Domestic Mail Manual itself:

https://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/508.htm#ep1051804

Except under 3.2.11, the receptacles described in 3.1.1 may be used only for matter bearing postage. Other than as permitted by 3.2.10, or 3.2.11, no part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable matter not bearing postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried by mail.

It actually is illegal to put anything that’s not US-Mail in someone’s mailbox.

https://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/tx/2010/tx_2010_0909.htm

(I only know this because I hand out political literature and literally our only rule is you cannot put anything in a persons mailbox). It has to be in between their doors, on their door handle, wedged in a crack in a door. That’s why people that come and try to sell you things have door tags instead of placing them in your mailbox.