Relates to establishing a crisis intervention team program

6 Co-sponsors

• Ruben Diaz
• Martin Malavé Dilan
• Ruth Hassell-Thompson
• Liz Krueger
• Velmanette Montgomery
• Bill Perkins

BILL NUMBER:S6365 REVISED 2/20/14

Title of bill

An act to amend the mental hygiene law, the state finance law and the general municipal law, in relation to establishing a crisis intervention team program

Purpose

This legislation provides for the creation of demonstration crisis intervention teams in New York City in order to increase the effectiveness of first responders to emotionally distressed citizen situations and reduce police initiated casualties.

Summary of provisions

Section 1: Amends the mental hygiene law by adding three new sections 7.44, 7.45 and 7.46 to create the crisis intervention program, the crisis intervention team training program advisory committee and the crisis intervention team training fund grant program.

Section 2: Amends the state finance law by adding a new section 99-v to create the crisis team training fund.

Section 3: Amends the general municipal law by adding a new section 204-ff to establish the criteria and goals for a crisis intervention team.

Section 4: Amends section 19.07 of the mental hygiene law by adding a new subdivision (j) to provide for the collaboration of the office of alcoholism and substance abuse services, office of mental health and law enforcement to establish criteria for the development of crisis intervention teams.

Justification

The NYPD receives approximately 100,000 calls a year that are related to an "emotionally disturbed person". Often times that person is suffering with mental health issues, or substance abuse problems, or both that require clinical intervention rather than enforcement that may result in unwarranted arrests, injuries, and fatalities.

Data for the year 2012 indicates that civil suits against the NYPD have doubled in the past decade. By the end of that year over 9,500 lawsuits totaling more than $1 billion had been filed against the NYPD, an onerous burden on taxpayers. Additionally, during the last months of 2013 suits were filed totaling over $50 million related to three deaths related to lethal actions by police involving the emotionally impaired.

The creation of a crisis intervention team response model in New York City would provide law-enforcement personnel with the special training necessary to respond to individuals experiencing erratic emotional events from a clinical rather than criminal perspective. Treating these calls less as a threat to public safety and more as a possibility to help a New Yorker in crisis, would provide a pathway to handle the initial calls with the tools necessary to defuse the confrontation and appropriately address the situation.

Forty-five states and 2,500 cities have adopted crisis intervention programs wherein law enforcement engaged in 40-80 hour training. The

results have included a significant reduction in violence, improved community relations and a reduction in injuries to both law enforcement and the emotionally impaired which in the past had easily become highly volatile and dangerous to both parties. Major cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago have adopted the successful Memphis Model adopted in Tennessee.

Legislative history

None. This is new legislation

Fiscal implications

This bill will have a substantial positive fiscal impact on the City of New York by reducing the legal and settlement costs related to unwarranted lethal force against the emotionally impaired. Up to 1 million dollars from the general fund will be used to establish the program.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately and sunset 5 years from the date of enactment.