New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced that the city will start hospitalizing the dangerously mentally ill, even involuntarily in some cases.
This is an effort to curb some of the senseless violent crime that has gripped the city, as mentally ill people have been responsible for some stabbings, beatings, and even shoving people in front of oncoming trains.
CBS News reports:
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announces new initiative that will involuntarily hospitalize more mentally ill peopleNew York City Mayor Eric Adams announced an initiative that would give the city more leeway to involuntarily hospitalize severely mentally ill people on the city’s subways and streets, even if they do not appear to pose an immediate danger to others.”My administration is determined to do more to assist people with mental illness, especially those with untreated psychotic disorders, posing a risk of harm to themselves, even if they are not an imminent threat to the public,” Adams said Tuesday. “It is not acceptable for us to see someone who clearly needs help and walk past. For too long, there has been a gray area where policy, law and accountability have not been clear and this has allowed people in need to slip through the cracks.”Adams, a former police officer, said the city will be training Emergency Medical Services staff and other medical personnel to “ensure compassionate care.” He said the policy he’s proposing “explicitly states” when it is appropriate to use this process to hospitalize a person suffering from mental illness even if they do not want to go…Adams said he believed the law should “require hospital evaluators to consider not just how the person is acting at the moment of evaluation but also their treatment history, recent behavior in the community, and whether they are ready to adhere to outpatient treatment.” He said he will work to have a new “basic needs” standard for involuntary admission written into state law.
This video report from CBS News in New York repeatedly calls the decision controversial:
Many of the usual suspects are rushing to demonize this decision.
This policy is not controversial. In fact, it was the norm for years and years. Ten years ago, when Charles Krauthammer was still alive and a regular guest on FOX News, he would often speak of his former career as a psychiatrist and how the threshold for committing someone has changed significantly.
This is a common sense policy from Adams. He deserves credit for it, not scorn.
Featured image via YouTube.
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