The way police officers deal with people who may be involved in a mental health crisis has become a frequently-discussed issue.
In the 2014 legislative sessions, lawmakers passed—and the governor signed—House Bill 2105 which, among other things, takes witness statements into account when determining whether to take someone experiencing a mental health crisis into custody.
We spoke with Sergeant Jason Winsky of the Mental Health Investigative Support Team for the Tucson Police Department, Jim Dunn, executive director and CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Arizona and S.E. Smith, deputy editor of the opinion section at the Daily Dot.
