By Adam Bass
masslive.com
WORCESTER, Mass. — The Worcester City Council on Tuesday postponed a request for information about how the police department and the emergency communications and management department handle mental health emergencies.
The request for information was created after three mental health organizations sued Worcester, claiming the city’s 911 system violates multiple federal laws — including the Americans with Disabilities Act — by sending armed officers to mental health crises.
| EARLIER: Mass. city councilor seeks review of 911 response to mental health emergencies
Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Toomey, the chair of the public safety committee, drafted the request — saying she wanted “make sure the correct information is made public.”
Council Vice Chair and Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King moved to postpone the vote to the council’s next meeting on April 14.
The vote was postponed so that a broader conversation about the handling of mental health emergencies could be held, according to an aide to the Worcester City Council.
“Not every call for service requires a police response, or solely a police response,” King said in a statement. “Research and studies have verified that a thoughtful, differential approach that includes social workers leads to better outcomes; this critical role is essential in realizing both immediate stabilization and long-term outcomes. That’s a conversation worth taking the time to get right.”
Additionally, King is looking for information about the status of nine orders from the council, many of them relating to having social or clinical workers deployed in specific situations.
The orders date as far back as 2019. Past and present city administrations have yet to provide updates to these requests, according to the council aide. King plans to meet with the city administration about the status of the orders, the aide said. King’s postponement of Toomey’s request is also related to the lack of information about the previous orders, the aide confirmed.
The lawsuit was filed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Central Massachusetts, NAMI-Massachusetts and the Parent/Professional Advocacy League. The organizations claim that during an emergency involving suicidal thoughts, panic, psychosis or trauma, Worcester’s default action is to send armed police officers.
In comparison, those with physical emergencies, such as a heart attack or other medical crisis, are met by EMTs and paramedics trained to handle the situation, according to the lawsuit.
The organizations state that police officers are not trained to handle these forms of crises and their presence alone can worsen the situation.
The plaintiffs want a federal judge to order Worcester to change its 911 system, ensuring mental health emergencies receive a clinical, unarmed response, similar to how physical health crises are addressed.
Some members of the public spoke about Toomey’s request for a report during Tuesday night’s meeting.
Resident Tom Marino said the city council should have requested information about how mental health emergencies are handled before the lawsuit was filed.
“Waiting until after a lawsuit is filed to respond is the problem,” Marino said. “Rather than waiting for a nightmare to occur and then responding, maybe we could work on being a bit more proactive and having committees that do actual oversight as a means to a check and balance to ensure that our residents can get the best services their city government can provide.”
Resident Gary Hunter also spoke on the order, adding the police department must be reformed. He cited an incident listed in the lawsuit where police fractured the arm of a 10-year-old autistic boy during a mental health emergency.
“What we need is reform within the city police department,” Hunter said. “We need a civilian review board.”
The city previously ran a pilot program where a crisis response team responded to mental health emergencies alongside police. The pilot was a collaboration between the city and UMass Memorial Health Community HealthLink, a community behavioral health center.
The crisis response program began in July 2023 and ended in fall 2024, with Community HealthLink providing a summary of the pilot to the city following its conclusion.
Worcester has a crisis intervention program, which is run by UMass Memorial Health Community HealthLink. The 911 system does not dispatch workers but police departments can request support from them at any point.
This is different from the pilot program, where 911 dispatchers were able to directly contact Community HealthLink’s crisis response team. Members of the team responded to mental health emergencies at the same time as police, with the two working together.
Randy Feldman , the acting chair of the Human Rights Commission, told councilors the pilot program was great at the time but limited. He advocated for social workers respond to certain emergency calls with police.
“We definitely have to expand when we address mental and behavioral problems to have people beside just police officers respond,” Feldman said.
The council will meet next on April 14.
What’s your department’s approach to mental health calls — are clinicians or crisis teams involved in dispatch or response, or is it still primarily law enforcement? What’s working (or not) in your experience?
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