30+ signatories call for a rethink of UK’s approach to responding to mental health crises
source: LIBERTY
published: 31 October 2023
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Liberty, along with over thirty organisations and individuals working on mental health, the criminal justice system, racial justice and civil liberties, has called for a rethink of the UK’s approach to responding to mental health crises.
The statement’s release coincides with the cut-off point at which the Metropolitan Police, under a new ‘right care right person’ policy, will stop responding to mental health calls unless there is seen to be a threat to life.
Signatories including the National Survivor User Network, INQUEST, and the United Families and Friends Campaign, as well as bereaved families of people who have died at the hands of the police or in mental health settings, welcome the news that police will have a reduced involvement in mental health calls.
They note that police interactions can be extremely harmful and even deadly for a person experiencing mental health crisis, particularly people of colour.
At the same time, they say that current mental health provision is failing people, and that a new approach is needed which centers community care and tackles the root causes of mental ill-health and distress.
From November, as announced by Sir Mark Rowley earlier this year, the Metropolitan police will stop responding to mental health calls except where there is seen to be a threat to life.
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