Our partnership with the NYPD
“It doesn’t matter what kind of uniform you’re in, everyone needs support. A lot of our officers are looking for more support, and we’re here to help them find it.” –Sebastian, a Mental Health First Aid trainer
The Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health and the NYPD are strong partners. Since 2016, we have worked together to enhance the critical role officers play responding to mental health crises, de-escalating tough situations, and connecting those in need to care. And since 2019, we have supported police leadership to develop and implement the Department’s comprehensive suicide prevention strategy.
Support for officers
Suicide prevention
The Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health is providing critical support to the NYPD to prevent officer suicides. We have brought in national experts to guide this work. We have collaborated to design an executive-level and precinct-level training. Every Patrol Borough in the City has partnered with us to offer Mental Health First Aid training. We also helped train those selected to participate in the Department’s new Peer Support Program.
Suicide prevention training covered risk factors and warning signs, how to talk to someone who may be in crisis, where to go for help, and how leadership can support officer wellness. Delivered in partnership with NYC Well, one of our signature programs, this training reached 18,000 personnel in every precinct, Police Service Area (PSA), and transit district, and ultimately expanded to train nearly 40,000 NYPD personnel from September through the end of November 2019.
Over 8,000 staff, including safety agents, 911 call takers and traffic agents, have been trained in Mental Health First Aid and over 3,500 school safety agents have been trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid as of November 2019.
Enhancing the critical role officers play in crisis intervention and connection to care
Crisis intervention
The Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health partners with the NYPD to implement Crisis Intervention Training, a four-day course that has helped over 16,000 officers to recognize the signs of mental illness and substance misuse, and better assist people in crisis.
“Crisis Intervention Training not only exposes police officers to the mental illnesses we face out there, but also to different strategies like communication and de-escalation in order to get a peaceful resolution to whatever the conflict may be.” –Detective Jeffrey Gironda
Support for crime victims
The Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health partners with the NYPD to offer supportive victim advocates to anyone harmed by crime. The Crime Victim Assistance Program provides help navigating the emotional, financial and physical aftermath of crime, with advocates onsite in precincts and PSAs across the City. Since 2016, over 165,000 people harmed by crime, violence or abuse have been served.
Responding to those in need
A collaboration between the NYPD and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Co-Response Teams proactively engage people with mental illness who are at an elevated risk of harm to themselves or others. These teams, which include two police officers and one clinician, connect or reconnect community members to treatment, family members, and other support.