NYPD 'Blindsided' By Controversial Plan To Commit Mentally Ill: Report

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Eric Adams' much-criticized directive to involuntarily commit more mentally ill people came as a surprise to NYPD brass he largely tasked with carrying out the plan, according to a new report.

NYPD officials were "blindsided" by Adams' announcement Tuesday that cops should send people with apparently untreated mental illness to hospitals for evaluations against their will, the New York Post first reported, quoting anonymous sources.

"It's kind of a hot mess," a source told the Post, according to the report.

An NYPD spokesperson didn’t directly address Patch’s request for comment on the report, but said department officials had worked with their mayor’s office counterparts.

“The NYPD is currently in the process of aligning its policy, guidance, and training in conformance with the Mayor’s directive which the Department received on Tuesday, November 29,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“To be clear every City agency received this directive November 29, however we have been working with the Mayor’s office for months regarding this important initiative.”

Still, the reported cop confusion only added to the controversy swirling around the mayor's plan.

Adams argued that state law gives first responders, including NYPD officers, the ability to send people with untreated severe mental illness to the hospital if it's clear they can't meet their own basic needs. He called it a "myth" that responders can only involuntarily transport such people to the hospital if they're violent, suicidal or presents a risk of imminent harm.

"It is not acceptable for us to see someone who clearly needs help and walk past," he said Tuesday.

But advocates such as the New York Civil Liberties quickly denounced the directive as a potential clear violation of the rights of mentally ill people who pose no imminent harm.

Others critiqued the plan for putting police at the forefront, which one mental health expert called an "extreme" approach that takes away basic human rights, the New York Times reported.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, while he supported some aspects of Adams' plan, criticized city officials for being "stubbornly insistent" on using police as main decision makers in mental health emergencies.

The mayor's plan leaves many details unspecified and questions unanswered, Williams said.

"A framework that continues to center overreliance on police, diminishes the role of health professionals, and de-prioritizes the role of peer support will not be sustainable or effective in meeting the needs of New Yorkers in need or a city in crisis," he said in a statement.