SB 972, An Act Concerning Crisis Intervention Training for Police Officers and Collaboration Between Police and Social Workers

Contact between community members and police can have tragic consequences for people experiencing mental health crises. People who are in mental health crises need treatment. As such, public health and social work actors should be the ones to take the lead when addressing mental health crises, not as an auxiliary afterthought to police. We have significant concerns with Senate Bill 972 because of its failure to reduce the role of policing in our communities, particularly with regard to some of our most vulnerable residents when they are in need of medical care for a mental health crisis.