Arlington, VA — The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) today released a statement from CEO Daniel H. Gillison, Jr, on the handcuffing and pepper-spraying of a nine-year-old girl in Rochester, New York, last Friday by local law enforcement professionals after a crisis call regarding “family trouble.”:
“When a mental health crisis happens, it should get a mental health response. This young girl deserved help, not handcuffs and pepper spray.
NAMI believes that responses to situations like this family’s crisis should be met by well-trained mobile crisis teams that provide the de-escalation, help and support people need. Children—and everyone else in a mental health crisis—should not be traumatized by a law enforcement response.”
Last year, federal adoption of 9-8-8 as a three-digit number for mental health, substance use, and suicidal crises, which will be effective nationwide by July 2022, provides a path forward to accelerate better options for communities across the country. NAMI advocates for state and local crisis systems that combine well-trained call centers with mobile crisis teams and crisis stabilization programs.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness
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