CONCERNS ABOUT
HOW POLICE
RESPOND TO CALLS
INVOLVING PEOPLE
WITH MENTAL HEALTH
ISSUES.
THE AYOR
ANNOUNCED MROE
FUNDING FOR SOCIAL
SERVICES WHO
RSPOND TO POLICE
CALLS.
MENTAL HEALTH
EXPERTS WE SPOKE
WITH THINK
DEPARTMENT
PROTOCOLS HERE IN
ROCHESTER NEED TO
CHANGE.
ATYIA COLLINS
REPORTS.
""
Community
organizations and
mental health
experts are calling
for more training of
Rochester police
officers-
and for mental
health professionals
to be involved when
encountering
someone with
mental health
challenges.
VO (arrest video)
While watching this
video of Danile
Prude's arrest-
Melanie Funchess,
director of
community
engagement Mental
Health Association
of Monroe county-
says she see a
person in need of
mental intervention-
not a police
response.
SOT-
JAYG2823.MOV-
Melanie Funchess,
director of
community
engagement Mental
Health Association
of Monroe county
00:51:07-13
"we know that tell us
that he was in need
of help."
SOT-
JAYG2823.MOV 0
0:51:19-29
"people with mental
health challenges
are often
characterized as
violent when the
data does not bear
that out."
VO
People with severe
mental illnesses are
over 10 times more
likely to be victims
of violent crime than
the general
population-
according to data
from the U.S.
Department of
Health & Human
Service.
And for members of
the black
community-
this plus the national
focus on police
relations could keep
them from reach out
for help.
SOT-
JAYG2823.MOV
00:53:51-58
"for black men,
being able to reach
out for help when
you are seen as a
threat
SOT-
JAYG2823.MOV
00:54:11-23
"when you think that
you're going to be
perceived as a
threat and there is
evidence that you
are seen as a threat
why would you want
to reach out to
receive help."
VO (protest video)
Funchess believes
specialized training
is needed to deal
with these kinds of
calls and prevent
violence-
many protestors and
community
organizations are
calling for the same.
Color of Change, a
national racial
justice organization,
are demanding that
the officers involved
are charged and
arrested.
They also want
trained medical and
mental health
professionals as first
responders to
medical calls, not
armed officers.
SOT-Scott Roberts,
Senior Director of
Criminal Justice
Campaigns for
Color Of Change
COMING UP--
PHASE THREE
CORONAVIRUS
VACCINE TRIALS ARE
