New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio confirmed this week that the nation’s largest city will no longer deploy police officers to “mental health calls,” instead sending doctors and other professionals to respond to emergencies.
New York City says it will respond to mental health calls without police https://t.co/kzXNTn1FjK pic.twitter.com/zslpFqc7Yk
— The Hill (@thehill) November 11, 2020
“One in five New Yorkers struggle with a mental health condition. Now, more than ever, we must do everything we can to reach those people before crisis strikes,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a release. “For the first time in our city’s history, health responders will be the default responders for a person in crisis, making sure those struggling with mental illness receive the help they need.”
“Mental illness is not a crime, but we call upon the police as first responders in a mental health crisis. Now, New York City is changing the outdated and dangerous use of police that too often has led to injury and even death,” said Linda Rosenberg, a social worker and professor at Columbia University, in a statement.
Read the full report at The Hill.
DE BLASIO SPIRALS: 2 NYPD Shot, 1 Stabbed, Mayor Says Protests Remind Him of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’
Two members of the NYPD were shot in Brooklyn overnight Monday and another officer stabbed in the neck as protesters defied an 8pm curfew imposed by beleaguered Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“The melee unfolded when a suspect approached a cop on Church Avenue near Flatbush Avenue at about 11:45 p.m. and stabbed him in the neck, a police source said,” reports the New York Post.
Meanwhile, the mayor faced a growing backlash after saying the violent situation reminded him of John Lennon’s utopian anthem ‘Imagine.’
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio: "I don't mean to make light of this but I'm reminded of the song 'Imagine' by John Lennon." pic.twitter.com/ElerZgB2y3
— The Hill (@thehill) June 3, 2020
“I don’t mean to make light of this. But I’m reminded of the song ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon. We played it at my inauguration! What about a world where people got along differently? What about a world where we didn’t live with a lot of the restrictions that we live with now,” said De Blasio. “We’re not there yet. The protest movement themselves is how we make progress!”
Read the full report at the New York Post.
DE BLASIO SPIRALS: Embattled Mayor Says Spike in CoVID Hospitalizations Has Nothing to do With Protests
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters he would be “surprised” if a recent spike in CoVID-19 hospitalizations was related to the ongoing George Floyd protests taking place in all five boroughs.
“I would be surprised if that’s what’s causing it,” de Blasio said Friday. “I think we’re much more likely in the next week [or] 10 days to see a manifestation, if there is one.”
“It is dangerous to be close together,” he admitted. “I don’t like that.”
Watch Bill de Blasio get Booed at a George Floyd Memorial.
How embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/iaEzWStJNP
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) June 4, 2020
“If you were at one of those protests, I would, out of an abundance of caution, assume that you are infected,” Governor Cuomo said Thursday. “One person, one person can infect hundreds if you were at a protest.”
Read the full report at Fox News.