NYC will involuntarily hospitalize the mentally ill

Mayor Eric Adams ordered police and emergency responders to hospitalize people they deemed too mentally ill to care for them- themselves, even if they posed no threat to others.

Acting to address "a crisis we see all around us" towards the end of a year that has seen a series of high-profile crimes involving sans -shelter, Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday announced a major effort to remove people with serious, untreated mental illnesses from city streets and subways.

M . Adams, who has made clearing homeless encampments a priority since taking office in January, said the effort would require involuntarily hospitalizing people who posed a danger to themselves, even if they presented no signs of harm. risk harming others, arguing that the city had a "moral obligation" to help them.

"The common misunderstanding persists that we cannot provide assistance involuntary unless the person is violent," Adams said in a remarks at City Hall. "Going forward, we will do everything we can to help people with mental illness."

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The mayor's announcement comes at a heated moment in the national debate over rising crime and the role of the police, especially among people whose mental health is already The Republicans, as well as the hard-to-reach Democrats, crime like Mr. Adams, a former police captain, argued that the growing disorder calls for more aggressive action. Left-leaning advocates and officials who dominate New York politics say deploying police as auxiliary social workers may do more harm than good.

Other big cities have struggled with how to help the homeless, especially those struggling with mental illness. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a law that could force some homeless people with conditions like schizophrenia into treatment. Many states have laws that allow involuntary outpatient treatment, and Washington State allows people to be hospitalized if a judge finds they pose a threat to themselves or others.

New York officials said the city will immediately implement training for police officers, emergency medical services personnel and other medical personnel to "to provide compassionate care". But the city's new policy directive acknowledges that "case law does not provide detailed guidance regarding referrals for mental health assessments based on short on-the-job interactions".

The policy immediately raised questions about who, exactly, would be swept up in it, and some advocates for people with mental illness warned it could face legal challenges. police and medical personnel to authorize the involuntary hospitalization of persons whose behavior poses a threat of "serious harm" to themselves or others. Brendan McGuire, the mayor's chief counsel, said on Tuesday that workers would assess people in public spaces "on a case-by-case basis" to see if they were able to provide for themselves basic needs such as food, housing and health care.

The city guideline states that "unconsciousness or delusional misunderstanding of the environment" or "delusional misunderstanding of physical condition or health" may be grounds for hospitalization.