Sec. 2. Findings; purpose
247 words·~1 min read·
/bill/116/s/1464/is/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: Law enforcement officers routinely respond to emergencies involving individuals suffering from a mental health crisis. Recent statistics have shown that as many as— 1 in every 10 calls for police response involve a person suffering from a mental illness; 1 in every 4 people killed by police suffer from a mental health problem; and 1 in 3 people transported to a hospital emergency room for psychiatric reasons are taken by the police. Law enforcement response calls to individuals suffering from substance use disorder have increased during the current opioid epidemic.
There is a need to ensure that law enforcement officers have access to proper evidence-based training in responding to mental health crises. Proper training for response to individuals suffering from a mental health crisis can better protect the safety of the general public and law enforcement officers. Law enforcement officers in the United States can better serve their communities if the law enforcement officers receive training to effectively and safely resolve the mental health crises.
The purpose of this Act is to provide grants to State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies to obtain behavioral health crisis response training for law enforcement officers to— better train law enforcement officers to resolve behavioral health crisis situations; reduce the number of law enforcement officers killed or injured while responding to a behavioral health crisis; and reduce the number of individuals killed or injured during a behavioral health crisis in which a law enforcement officer responds.