micdotcom: 15 years ago, Miami decided to treat mental illness as a disease and not a crime9.1% of t
micdotcom: 15 years ago, Miami decided to treat mental illness as a disease and not a crime9.1% of the Miami population is estimated to suffer from a mental illness (the largest percentage in the country). In 2000, facing such numbers, Judge Steven Leifman held a summit with officials and came up with a plan.Today thousands of Miami-Dade police officers have become skilled tacticians in de-escalating encounters with mentally ill suspects; arrests and incarcerations have plummeted. The program revolutionized the relationship between the county’s criminal justice system and its mental health system. The key to the program’s extraordinary success: It treats mental illness as a disease, not a crime. Police departments everywhere should follow Miami’s lead. -- source link