<!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ --></p> <p>From <a href=""https://calmatters.org/author/calmattersstaff/"" title=""Posts" by="" calmatters="" staff="" class=""author" url="" fn="" rel=""author"">CalMatters staff</a>Calmness</p> <p>This story was originally published by <a href=""https://calmatters.org/"">Calmatters</a>S <a href=""https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/"">Register</a> about their ballots.</p> <p>“Mental illness is not a crime” has become a rally to improve the treatment of people in a crisis. As explained compromises with a podcast of healthcare last year in their special series of three parts <a href=""https://tradeoffs.org/thefifthbranch"">“Fifth Branch,”</a> More than 100 communities in the US are now sending mental health experts instead of armed police to a certain 911 calls. </p> <p>A handful of sheriffs now in California have <a href=""https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/04/mental-health-crisis-california-police-response/"">began to refuse to answer</a> Up to some 911 calls that include mental health problems. The most famous employee is Sacramento Sacramento Jim Cooper, who in February announced that, as he was going forward, his deputies would respond to mental health calls only if a crime was committed or was in the process, or if someone other than the person in crisis was in direct danger.</p> <p>“We carry the badge, we carry the gun,” Cooper said at his press conference, announcing the new policy. “We are dealing with crime, not crises for mental health.”</p> <p>The journalist -Teran Lee Romney has covered <a href=""https://calmatters.org/tag/mental-health/"">mental health</a> Problems in California for nearly 25 years and witnessed the growing consensus that police should participate less in mental health crises. Lee was shocked by Cooper’s message.</p> <p>“He seemed to throw the baby with the bathroom water,” Lee told Commyfoffs. “The law enforcement agencies admit that things are going better for them when they collaborate with clinicians, with paramedics. I think he just made a step beyond.”</p> <p>Lee <a href=""https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/04/mental-health-crisis-california-police-response/"">wrote about the new policy</a> For Calletats. She talks with Cooper and other law enforcement leaders, along with members of the family of people with serious mental illness.</p> <p>You can listen to the full conversation with Lee below or read the transcript of <a href=""https://tradeoffs.org/2025/05/15/what-happens-when-cops-refuse-respond-mental-health-calls/"">Compromise</a>S She includes the powerful story of a frightened mother who felt abandoned when her teenage daughter was in crisis and Sacramento MPs refused to answer.</p> <p>Here are some of the compromises of Lee’s compromise:</p> <ul> <li>Lee says Sheriff Cooper’s decision to step away from calls for mental health is motivated in part by fears about legal responsibility. Cooper has quoted a <a href=""https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2024/07/30/23-15480.pdf"">Federal Court’s last decision</a> who held two police officers in Las Vegas <a href=""https://www.courthousenews.com/vegas-officers-not-immune-in-death-of-man-who-called-police-for-help-appeals-court-rules/"">responsible for killing a mentally ill person</a> In 2019, but <a href=""https://calmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/DOCUMENT-3-JonesMeyerLetter_2_12_25.pdf"">Other legal experts</a> to say <a href=""https://www.police1.com/legal/analysis-sheriff-shifts-approach-to-mental-health-calls-after-federal-court-ruling"">Cooper’s concern is wrong</a>S The cops say they still have legal protection when they respond to mental health calls.</li> <li>At least a handful of Sheriffe departments follow the lead of Sacramento. “I think they are trying to make a point,” Lee told these departments. “They are trying to force a wider conversation and say,” Hey, it’s not our job to eliminate the problem of the mental health crisis. ” “</li> <li>Critics – including legislators, <a href=""https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/sacramento-fire-district-says-sheriffs-offices-new-policy-change-creates-danger-for-crews/"">Firefighters</a> And members of the Community – Cooper’s concern policy will put civilian and first responding at risk. But Lee says some mental health advocates cheer this move. Cooper’s decision, according to them, insists on Sacramento to increase his efforts to come up with better ways to respond to mental health crises without sending the police.</li> </ul> <p>This article was <a href=""https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2025/05/mental-health-emergency-podcast/"">Originally Published on CalMatters</a> and was reissued under <a href=""https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"">Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives</a> License.</p> <p> Copy HTML
