NYC's cop-free mental health emergency response pilot showing positive results.

Quote:

A New York City pilot program to respond to 911 calls for mental health crises with social workers instead of cops appears to be reducing unnecessary hospitalizations, while increasing the percentage of people who accept help when offered. The Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division, or "B-HEARD" program, which started in a portion of Harlem a month ago, has already responded to about 110 calls where there was no weapon or imminent risk of violence, according to summary data provided by the city on Thursday. Instead of cops and paramedics responding to 911 mental health calls, three-person teams of social workers and paramedics respond instead. In 95 percent of those cases, the city said, the subject of the call accepted the team's offer of assistance. In the old cop-EMS model, that rate was 82 percent.

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/investiga...-show/3165520/

Probably makes sense to defund police services being used on inefficient responses and funding programs that actually work.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2VbeljB