Pat Lynch said: “Cops have seen this crisis coming for years. Every time we handle a job involving a seriously mentally ill person-something we do successfully thousands of times each year—we leave knowing that any help we can provide is a Band Aid (1/4) https://nypost.com/2020/11/21/authorities-said-suspected-subway-shover-would-become-nyc-menace/

There needs to be a total overhaul in the way our city and state treat and support the seriously mentally ill. In some cases, that means that a mentally ill person will need to be confined for their own safety and the safety of others. (2/4)

Police officers and the courts will inevitably play a role in those cases. But the goal should be to prevent individual cases from reaching that point. We’re being offered a false choice between ‘lock them all up’ and ‘do nothing,’ because a real solution would take time... (3/4)

creativity, money and hard work. Our feckless political class would rather point fingers at police officers and undercut our efforts to respond to situations in real time, when lives are in danger.” (4/4)