Michael Wright was in the middle of a mental health crisis when police met him inside a business on North Main Street in North Syracuse on Aug. 12, 2025. He lives with bipolar disorder, and according to a federal lawsuit he filed last week, he believed snakes were crawling on his skin and that someone was after him. By the end of the encounter, his leg was broken so badly that bone was showing. Surgeons later amputated his left leg above the knee.

The lawsuit says an Onondaga County sheriff’s deputy and two North Syracuse village officers grabbed Wright from behind, and when he tried to pull free, they swept his legs out from under him. He was wearing little more than his underwear at the time. The sheriff’s office declined to comment on the case, and the North Syracuse police chief did not respond to questions from reporters.

A person in psychiatric distress needs care, not a takedown. Some communities now send trained mental health responders to calls like this one, sometimes alongside police, to calm things down before anyone gets hurt. Onondaga County and North Syracuse have the power to do the same.

Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon II, Sheriff Tobias Shelley, the Onondaga County Legislature, and the North Syracuse Village Board should create a mental health crisis response team for 911 calls involving psychiatric emergencies. They should require crisis intervention training for every deputy and village officer. And they should order an independent, public review of what happened to Michael Wright.

A mental health emergency should never end with a man losing his leg. Sign the petition to demand crisis responders, better training, and real answers before another 911 call ends the same way.