New York Times Op-Ed: Where Police Violence Encounters Mental Illness

Dana January 14, 2016 Helplines

An Op-Ed in Wednesday’s New York Times discusses the tragedy that can sometimes occur when police find themselves responding to a person with mental illness, and the investments needed to prevent it.

Nearly 20 years ago, I was a social worker in a county jail where I first began to understand just how frequently the police deal with people with mental illnesses. Run-ins with the police were a regular occurrence for many of my clients, with officers often knowing them by name.

Tags: mental illness

Dana

Dana joined the iCarol team in 2013 after 12 years of direct service and administrative duties at a blended 2-1-1/crisis intervention/suicide prevention center. As the Communications and Social Media Manager at iCarol, you’ll find her presenting Webinars, Tweeting, Blogging, Facebooking, and producing other materials that aid helplines in their work.