In March 2020, Daniel Prude, a Black man from Rochester, New York, was experiencing an acute mental health crisis when his family called 911 for help.  Mr. Prude was naked on a public street but posed no danger to anyone. Nevertheless, Rochester Police responded in force, handcuffed him, placed a hood over his head, and held him face down on the cold pavement until he stopped breathing. Daniel Prude was mocked and treated cruelly by officers that did not understand the needs of a man experiencing an obvious mental health crisis. He deserved care and dignity. Instead, he died.

New York State launched a Task Force to generate solutions to prevent tragic outcomes like this, outcomes unfortunately far too frequent – in Broome County there was just an incident in Vestal last month.  Their work led to the legislation named in Mr. Prude’s memory, Daniel’s Law.

Daniel’s Law codifies the primary recommendation of the Task Force, which was that New York must respond to mental health crises with a focus on de-escalation, focusing not on law enforcement but a health-led approach prioritizing Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and “Peers”, i.e., responders with lived mental health experience that are trained to use that experience to help others in crisis.  Law enforcement would be deployed when there is an immediate threat of violence, but otherwise these incidents should be treated as health emergencies rather than criminal behavior.

The Task Force also established a statewide Technical Assistance Center for standardization, oversight, and continuous improvement of the mental health crisis response system.

Legislation enacting Daniel’s Law is pending in the legislature right now, S3670 in the Senate and A4617 in the Assembly.  Additionally, the governor and legislative leadership are finalizing the budget and must decide whether to include $15 million in funding for an expansion of Daniel’s Law pilot programs.  Please contact Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Heastie, and your State Senator and State Assembly Member and ask them to cosponsor and support these bills, as well as to support funding the pilot programs in the upcoming budget, to ensure the best outcomes for our fellow New Yorkers suffering critical mental health challenges.