Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a new initiative in two New York City communities where social workers and EMTs will respond to 911 mental health calls, eliminating the need for police response in most of these situations. “One in five New Yorkers struggle with a mental health condition.
Now, more than ever, we must do everything we can to reach those people before crisis strikes,” de Blasio said in a statement. “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.” The move comes after a year of social reckoning surrounding policing across the country, with some activists calling to defund the police and.