Crisis Response & Policing

The risk of being in crisis* for young BIPOC is at an all-time high. Interactions with emergency systems, like emergency departments or police, are risky to say the least. Even practices in emergency mental health care can be racist and unsafe; BIPOC are often over-diagnosed with mental health issues and experience lower quality of care.

Police Are Not Mental Health Experts

And yet, police are often called to respond to Brown and Black people experiencing mental health crises. Injuries and deaths such as the murders of Miles Hall, Kayla Moore, and Walter Wallace, Jr. – all Black and all experiencing mental health crises at the time of their murder by police – highlight police violence in response to mental health crises. Mental health crises should not be criminalized.** Yet, many counties still deploy police to address 911 calls for a mental health or substance abuse crisis even though they aren’t appropriate responders.

Aggressive Policing is a Threat to Physical and Mental Health

Some cities are getting creative, recruiting mental health experts and volunteers to respond to mental health crises instead of police. This is where we come in because input from young adults on imagining these programs is essential.

*A mental health crisis is when a person’s emotional or mental state puts them or someone else in danger. It prevents them from being able to care for themselves or to function effectively in a community.
**Mental health and addiction are some of the only health issues that we criminalize in the United States. It is estimated that 900,000 people with mental illness end up in jails every year.