Harlem Mental Health Policing Program Expands, Amid Mixed Results

HARLEM, NY — The city's pilot program removing police from some mental health calls in Harlem will soon expand to cover the entire neighborhood, while new data shows the effort has seen only modest growth in its first three months of operation.

The B-HEARD program launched in early June in Central and East Harlem, within the 25th, 28th and 32nd police precincts. The city chose that area because it saw the most mental health-related 911 calls last year — 7,400 in total — than any other part of the city.

Under the program, three-person teams composed of two paramedics and a social worker were dispatched to some mental health emergencies, overseen by the FDNY and Health + Hospitals rather than police. It came amid calls for police reform and scrutiny over the NYPD's role in responding to mental health calls, which have sometimes resulted in violent outcomes.

In November, B-HEARD will grow to include West Harlem's 26th and 30th precincts, according to the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health, which also released new data last week showing how the program fared through Aug. 31.

During those three months, only about 23 percent of the nearly 1,500 mental health-related 911 calls made in Harlem were routed to B-HEARD teams — or 342 in total. The rest, about 83 percent, were handled by cops.

That represents only a slight improvement from the first month, where 20 percent of calls went to B-HEARD teams, as Gothamist first reported. And it is well short of the city's end goal of routing 50 percent of mental health calls away from police.

Still, the city touts some numbers as encouraging. More people accepted assistance from B-HEARD teams — about 91 percent — than in traditional 911 responses, which average round 86 percent. And far fewer people were hospitalized: 48 percent of people served by B-HEARD were taken in for care, compared to 86 percent in a typical response.

The 43 percent of B-HEARD patients who were not hospitalized were either treated on-site through techniques like counseling and de-escalation (25 percent of people) or taken to a community-based care location (18 percent).

All told, there were about 18 mental health 911 calls each day between June 6 and Aug. 31 in the precincts where B-HEARD operated. The teams responded to 83 percent of the calls routed to them, operating 16 hours per day, seven days a week.

"Before B-HEARD, mental healthcare was not delivered in communities during an emergency," the city wrote in a news release. "Now, with B-HEARD social workers delivering care on site, emergency mental healthcare is reaching people in their homes or in public spaces for the first time in New York City’s history."

Harlem has been at the forefront of the citywide discussion over the NYPD's role in responding to mental health calls, which ramped up last summer amid the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd.

For years, the neighborhood has been plagued by opioid use and residents have complained about mental health crises playing out on neighborhood streets. In January, footage of police officers taking an impaired man into custody in East Harlem circulated widely on social media, reigniting the debate over how law enforcement treats people who are mentally ill.

In February, East Harlem Councilmember Diana Ayala introduced a bill in the City Council that would fully eliminate the NYPD's role in mental health calls.

Though that step has not been taken, another component of the bill — the proposal to create an Office of Community Mental Health — was fulfilled when Mayor Bill de Blasio created the office through an executive order in April. That office is charged with running the B-HEARD program.

Related coverage:

• Harlem Mental Health Policing Pilot Growing After Promising Start
• Police Removed From Harlem Mental Health Calls In New Program
• East Harlem Council Rep Wants Police Out Of Mental Health Calls
• Man's Arrest In East Harlem Raises Questions About Policing
• Harlem Council Rep Clashes With Community Board Over NYPD Funding