A New Program Announced By NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio Is To Use Mental Health Workers Instead Of Police To Respond To Some Calls

CTV News

Police encounters can really be stressful, especially nowadays, no matter what the reason is. This makes it difficult to communicate properly, and may escalate the situation. With that in mind, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city will experiment using mental health workers instead of police to respond to some calls. For the first time in our city’s history, health responders will be the default responders for a person in crisis, making sure those struggling with mental illness receive the help they need,” the mayor said in a statement.

The program is expected to begin in February, and will be composed of new mental health teams from the Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services unit. Initially, two “high-need” neighborhoods will be serviced. These professionals will be equipped to handle suicide attempts, physical problems due to affected mental health, and drug abuse. Typically situations that police would respond to.


The statement also clarified that if there is “imminent risk of harm” or a weapon is involved, the responder will be accompanied by police officers.

Lately, because of the stigma of police brutality and racial discrimination, lots of people see cops in a very negative way. If the normal person is intimidated, to say the least, what more someone suffering from some kind of mental illness. It can be terrifying, and the situation could get worse. Sadly, it seemed that recent situations show that some police officers lack the expertise, proper attitude, and social skills to deal with mentally ill citizens. It happened when the police were called in to do a “welfare check” on someone with mental illness, and ended up shooting the person because he “did not follow instructions.”

The Atlantic

A report issued by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2017 using a self-report survey data from inmates found that about 44% of jail inmates had a history of mental health issues. A lot of them were jailed for minor offenses including non-violent drug crimes, mostly associated with poverty. Studies have also shown that people who suffer from mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed by a police officer. Whether it is the tension of the situation, or lack of communication, it is a reality.


Some US cities have already begun utilizing mental health workers to deal with specific issues, notably Eugene, Oregon. For the past 30 years, the program called Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) started in Oregon, but has since been adopted in at least 8 other cities. The program also runs in Denver, Portland, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Vancouver.

The idea may not be new, but it is surely a solution to many issues that have to do with errant police officers. While most cops are decent and “law-abiding”, the mistakes of some reflect on the whole police force. Hopefully the police force will regain their untarnished and unbiased reputations, and really are there to “serve and protect.”

 

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