Detroit Police Chief James White, along with Mayor Mike Duggan, attended the Mackinac Policy Conference last week and asked state leaders to address Michigan’s greatest challenge: the mental health crisis.
More than 1,000 Detroit residents with ongoing mental health issues have made three or more 911 calls to the DPD in the last three years. The city alone receives over 30 mental health calls per day.
Detroit currently averages one barricaded gunman intervention per week.
In 2022, Chief White, who has a master’s degree in counseling, developed a new mental health unit: “Crisis Intervention Team.” This unit is composed of officers trained to deal with people experiencing mental health crises and to de-escalate situations.
CIT officers’ outfits are less intimidating to people, and their cars feature green lights.
During the conference, body cam footage was shared of an armed man suffering a crisis. Police were able to disarm him without anyone getting hurt.
