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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by William Juhn, Senior Staff Attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, on Police Involvement in Mental Health Crisis Calls
5:17:09
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102 sec
William Juhn, representing New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, testifies on the need to remove police from mental health crisis responses in New York City. He criticizes the current BeHeard program for its continued police involvement and advocates for a peer-led crisis response system.
- Highlights the disproportionate impact of police violence on people of color during mental health crises
- Proposes a $4.5 million allocation for peer specialist compensation in crisis response teams
- Recommends adopting a model similar to CCIT NYC's proposal, utilizing teams of trained peers and EMTs independent of city government
William Juhn
5:17:09
Good afternoon.
5:17:09
My name is William Jenner.
5:17:10
I'm a senior staff attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.
5:17:13
Thank you for this opportunity to testify today.
5:17:16
We need to stop police violence and mental health crisis calls.
5:17:20
In the past nine years alone, twenty one individuals were killed by police while in mental health crisis in New York City, and more than eighty percent of them were black or other people of color.
5:17:31
Unfortunately, the city's current programs such as the BeHer program does not meet this goal.
5:17:37
The BeHer still author authorizes extensive police involvement and is likely to continue the violence responses by the NYPD.
5:17:45
In fiscal year 2024, more than eight 70% of all mental health calls in the BeHerD pilot areas were still directed to the NYPD.
5:17:55
The city must remove police entirely from the equation.
5:17:58
We already know that peers and mental health workers are best equipped to deescalate crisis and connect individuals to care instead of police.
5:18:08
Peers are individuals who have their own personal lived experience with their mental health concerns.
5:18:14
For example, CCIT NYC is a coalition of 80 New York City organizations and has already developed such proposal in which teams of trained peers and EMTs who are independent of the city government would respond to mental health crises.
5:18:28
We asked the city council to include a baseline allocation of 4,500,000.0 to ensure competitive compensation for peer specialists to staff the city's mental health crisis response teams, including the Be Her program.
5:18:42
We therefore urge the council to support a truly non police peer led system in response to mental health crisis calls.
5:18:50
Thank you very much.