In San Francisco, as in many cities, it's not uncommon to cross paths with a person experiencing homelessness in the throes of a mental health crisis. The scene can be tragic, confusing and can feel dangerous. Bystanders might wonder how to summon help from the city – and what will happen if they do. We created a flow chart to answer those questions.
Fateful Encounters is a series that explores police response to mental health crises and is an ongoing collaboration between MindSite News and the Medill School of Journalism, Media & Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern.
Inadequate training on mental health crises, poor working conditions and a crazy quilt of dispatch codes from city to city puts both dispatchers and callers in crisis at risk.
More than 60% of people shot and killed by New Hampshire police over the last decade had a mental illness, according to 'Shots Fired,' a Concord Monitor analysis published in 2021. Two years later, little has changed. Of the eight people shot and killed by police in New Hampshire since the analysis was published, five had a history of mental illness. (Illustration: Eric Turner)
Two-thirds of California voters want mental health professionals involved in mental health crisis response, while police favor proposals that supplement the current system rather than supplant it.
With the deadline for launching the 988 line just 7 months away, only a few states have enacted legislation to create and fund call centers and other services.
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