NYC Will Try Sending Medical Responders To Mental Health Calls Rather Than Police

As NYC announced in a statement, the city is adding mental health teams to respond to mental health emergencies in a pilot program that will target two high-need communities starting in February 2021.

"One in five New Yorkers struggle with a mental health condition," Mayor Bill de Blasio said in the statement. "Now, more than ever, we must do everything we can to reach those people before crisis strikes. 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."

In situations involving a person with a weapon or threatening violence, police will be on hand for backup. But outside of those scenarios, mental health teams will be dispatched to the scene police-free.

In 2019, NYC fielded more than 170,000 911 calls related to mental health crises. The majority of those were for "people who just needed help," the city's First Lady, Chirlane McCray, told CNN.

That was down by about 8,000 from 2018, but the number still amounts to a call roughly every three minutes. To this point, those calls have been handled by NYPD and FDNY Emergency Medical Services regardless of whether a crime has been committed or if violence might be involved.

In Eugene, Oregon, mental health crisis workers have been supporting 911 calls since 1989 as part of that city's CAHOOTS (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets) program. Eugene's CAHOOTS team responded to about 24,000 non-violent calls in 2019, and required police backup in roughly 150 cases.

Other cities around the nation have been trying similar approaches, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, and Albuquerque, CNN reported.

"The NYPD looks forward to participating in this important pilot program. The participation of mental health professionals is a long awaited improvement in the city’s initial response to people in crisis," Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in a statement. "Our officers applaud the intervention by health professionals in these non violent cases and as always stand ready to assist."

NYC Police Benevolent Association President Patrick J. Lynch suggested that the plan of sending out mental health workers without police was fraught with danger.

"Police officers know that we cannot single-handedly solve our city's mental health disaster, but this plan will not do that, either. It will undoubtedly put our already-overtaxed EMS colleagues in dangerous situations without police support," Lynch said in a statement.

Retired NYPD sergeant Joseph L. Giacalone told CNN that he worried about those mental health experts responding to calls. "Those situations are the scariest to deal with in policing, as far as I'm concerned, because you never know what [they're] going to do," he said.

h/t: CNN