PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Kimberly Saltz, Legal Fellow from Legal Defense Fund
4:27:00
·
89 sec
Kimberly Saltz from the Legal Defense Fund testifies on the need for a better alternative to law enforcement for behavioral health emergencies in New York City. She critiques the current B-HEARD program and advocates for a true community-based response to mental health crises.
- Emphasizes that people with mental health disabilities are more likely to be victims of violent crime and experience police violence
- Argues that crisis intervention training and co-responder models are not effective solutions to police violence
- Urges the City Council to invest in community-based responses involving clinicians, social workers, and peer workers instead of police
Kimberly Saltz
4:27:00
Hello.
4:27:00
Good afternoon, and thank you for the opportunity to testify.
4:27:02
My name is Kimberly Saults, I'm a Law Offices of the Legal Defense Fund.
4:27:06
New Yorkers need to have a meaningful alternative to law enforcement when experiencing behavioral health emergencies.
4:27:11
Be heard in its current state fails to provide New Yorkers with the community based response that is necessary to prevent police encounters, and it further entrenched officers into mental health crisis response in New York City.
4:27:21
People with serious mental health and behavioral health disabilities are far more likely to be the victims of violent crime than the perpetrators.
4:27:28
But these individuals are significantly more likely to experience police violence than their peers without such disabilities.
4:27:33
Crisis intervention training and co responder models are not an effective solution to police violence.
4:27:38
Law enforcement has a fundamentally different goal and different priorities than mental health providers.
4:27:43
Law enforcement position is to enforce laws.
4:27:46
Mobile health mobile crisis responders, including clinicians, social workers, and peer workers, do not involve police that have the professional expertise and training to safely and effectively engage with someone in the mental health crisis.
4:27:59
Their mission is to resolve the incident, identify and understand the underlying issues, connect the person experiencing crisis to the additional services they may need.
4:28:06
These services can change lives, but only if they're effectively funded and effectively deployed.
4:28:12
City of New York has an obligation to avoid putting New Yorkers at risk through criminalization, through police encounters simply because of their mental or behavioral disability or because they are in crisis.
4:28:22
We urge city council to invest in true community based responses to calls involving people with mental health crises Thank you.
