Judge allows lawsuit demanding change to DC police response to mental health calls to move forward

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that a lawsuit calling for changes to how police in Washington, D.C., handle mental health crises can move forward, rejecting the district’s efforts to dismiss the case.

Bread For The City, a nonprofit that provides food, legal help, and resources for people in D.C., sued the district over claims that its police response to mental health crises often worsens situations.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of the nonprofit in July 2023, accusing D.C. of violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. The ACLU said on social media that the ruling is an “important step forward to ensure that mental health crises are treated with “care and compassion” rather than unnecessary law enforcement.”

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“They are not trained to respond to the person in crisis, they are inherently triggering to the person in crisis and we need someone safe to call, someone who is trained to respond,” Ashika Verriest, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project, told Fox 5 DC.

When people in D.C. who are experiencing a mental health crisis call 911 seeking help, police officers are typically sent to respond, which can escalate the situation or trigger the person having the mental health crises, according to the ACLU.

Verriest said plaintiffs want D.C. to implement changes to where dispatch would send mental health providers to handle mental health crises instead of police.

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“The problem is that when you call 911, you very rarely get that type of response,” Verriest said. “Per our complaint looking at a particular time period, you would be getting that type of response less than 1% of the time and even if you did get that response, you would not get it in a timely way. You would be waiting hours.”

The judge stressed that her ruling was not a criticism of police conduct, but rather that officers are not trained for these mental health situations.

When asked about how the mental health professionals would be funded, Verriest pointed to the resources used for police to respond to mental health crises.

“Look at the amount of taxpayer money that is spent on police officers responding to this, the amount of time police officers have to spend with someone in crisis, the amount of overtime that involves and the amount of time they spend taking someone to a hospital waiting — and whether that money can be used better to have the right responders to respond,” Verriest said.

Both sides are now preparing for a trial in this case.