NEW: Politicians of both parties are pushing to expand forced hospitalization. In many cases, cops w/ minimal training fill out forms attesting that people are a danger to themselves or others. In Chicago, police forcibly hospitalize 6 people a day. It's how over 20% of CPD mental health calls end.
You’d think this would count in Chicago’s favor vis-a-vis the “emergency” that demands federales.
I wish this said how many of these overall were women. 33% or so of the involuntary committed were black women alone. But how many of these are women being brought in by men who think they're "hysterical"?
When cops respond to calls when someone is having a mental health crisis, the person in need of assistance is often arrested, beaten up, or even killed. Why would anyone want cops to be handling these situations? southsideweekly.com/from-the-ele...
A new investigation from @invisible.institute + @mindsitenews.bsky.social + @southsideweekly.bsky.social digs into CPD's use of forced hospitalization — possible only because the 2019 consent decree forced CPD to begin collecting data on this question. No state or national body tracks this data.
The CPD's CARE team were intended to respond to many mental health calls in the city. But as @mindsitenews.bsky.social has reported, limited funding and inter-department turf battles have significantly hampered the alternative response program's capacity.
There is no evidence supporting improved outcomes for people who undergo involuntary care — particularly at the decision of law enforcement — and yet, our reporting shows that CPD officers are barely trained on any other alternatives, even though they exist. Read more:
And read the full series that this reporting is part of: a special issue between @mindsitenews.bsky.social, @southsideweekly.bsky.social, @invisible.institute, and Medill Investigative Lab-Chicago.
Along with the power of a mental health commitment comes a lot of responsibility. We know how to successfully treat serious mental illness, but we don't fund it. We pay the same amount of money to put the mentally ill in jail or prison as it would cost to have successful mental health treatment.
Do not ever call 988, I'd stay away from "therapists" too. It's a big system and you're not part of it.