Opinion: The city’s approach to adding fire and police resources misses the fact that law enforcement officials are not best-suited to public health interventions.
for fiscal year 2024, which includes added public safety spending for police and firefighters — partially to respond to the growing number of emergency mental health calls.Success! You're on the list.
The proposed increases in public safety funding don’t concern me. Such public safety spending is inevitable in a fast-growing, sprawling city that is hard to cover. I am, however, concerned about how city, police and firefighter leaders are addressing the community’s mental health crisis. Residents made more than 32,000 mental health calls to 911 in 2022, according to SAPD Assistant Chief Karen Falks.
Mental health calls seldom end in fatalities, but that is no comfort to the victimized families. A single incident can undermine public confidence, especially among communities of color. Often the sheer number of bullets fired by multiple officers belies the assertion that the police response was controlled and proportional.to serve citywide, but that will still fall short of addressing the crisis. At a minimum, each of the 10 council districts should have an SA Core team in operation.
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