As the lack of mental health knowledge increases, so does the rise of people unprepared for a mental crisis. Many people feel as though they don’t know how to deal with mental troubles, so they often turn to those supposed to make us feel safe and help; police officers. The number of calls to 911 about the crisis has significantly increased “calls to 911 jumped from 97,000 in 2009 to almost 180,000 last year”(www.thecity.nyc) Unfortunately, so has the number of deaths among those experiencing the crisis. Police officers are severely skewed with how they interact with mentally ill people resulting in violence as soon as possible. They always claim to have feared for their safety or the safety of others when that is rarely the case. They almost always claim to have seen a weapon when they hold things that couldn’t be farther from a firearm, such as household items like a wallet and a piece of metal. These people are in a severe state of distress and need to be deescalated and ensured security, not fear for their lives when something happens to them out of their control.

These reasons are why I call on Mayor Bill de Blasio to relocate funds that go to the NYPD and move more to DOHMH. The NYPD has had an increase of funds by about 27% since 2010 being one of the largest agencies funded by the government. While it is considered mandatory for the NYPD to undergo training for a mental crisis, it has been severely ineffective. This is why we must get people that care for these people and know how to care for them without making them an “offender.” The DOHMH is one of the lowest funded government agencies. They need to be the ones to respond to these calls of distress, so no more people have to die due to the lack of care from the government for these people. This is why they need more funds to take care of these people properly. The police don’t even appropriately respond to these and multiple other situations they are called upon. The government must reallocate these funds to the DOHMH, and a separate response team must be sent out in these moments instead of the officers. To take care of these people properly.

With all of this being said, please sign the petition, so the DOHMH receives proper funding and becomes an official response team for mental crises instead of the NYPD. 

For more information, please go to: https://www.thecity.nyc/special-report/2019/3/21/21211184/the-nypd-s-mental-illness-response-breakdown 

https://cbcny.org/research/seven-facts-about-nypd-budget