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In the days since police officers shot and killed a mentally ill man in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been urging New Yorkers to connect friends and family members with his mental health initiative.
He said on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show: "1-888-NYC-WELL, any New Yorker can call that number, get trained counselor, get connected to help get appointments." Later, on NY1's Inside City Hall, he said, "It's not just like the hotlines in the past. This is something I think more developed."
The hotline, which was rolled out in 2016, aims to help people book appointments at treatment centers, offers counseling over the phone, and in extreme cases calls a mobile crisis team to someone's home.
But critics charge that it's not designed to help people who need it most, like the man who was killed last week, 34-year-old Saheed Vassell. It can take the 24 teams up to 48 hours to respond to a call for help.
"Families call the number and what they're what looking for is a crisis intervention team and they're told well it'll take two days or more or for one to come out and if they're dangerous call police," said D.J. Jaffe, the founder of Mental Illness Policy.
About 8,000 police officers have gotten training to deescalate mental health crises, the mayor has said. Still, callers aren't guaranteed one will show up if they dial 911. And police have killed nine emotionally disturbed people since 2015.