A Note From CCIT NYC Leader and NYAPRS President-Elect Carla Rabinowitz: The Communities for Crisis Intervention Teams(CCIT NYC) is so impressed by Sahar, and her generous spirit trying to help mental health recipients. CCIT NYC is the organization working to bring CITs to NYC. We are 43 organizations strong and are reaching out to police in the NYPD to work together with us. CITs give police new tools. Command and control techniques just don’t work with those in emotional distress. CITs are not new. They have been used in over 2,700 localities in the U.S. The bottom line is Crisis Intervention Teams really work. It’s a common sense approach that’s not just better for the mental health community but for police officers on the front line as well.
To join our coalition contact crabinowitz@communityaccess.org. Or visit http://www.ccitnyc.org“
View an interview with Sahar on ABC here, and read her letter to de Blasio and Bratton below:
An Open Letter to Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton on Behalf of A
Woman Who was Shot by the NYPD
Dear Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton:
On the evening of September 14, 2013, I was walking near Times Square, enjoying a night out with my cousin. Suddenly, I heard a shot and saw a police officer ahead of me in the middle of the street. My instincts kicked in; my cousin and I ran away from the scene of the action. Soon thereafter, I heard two more shots. One of the bullets struck my backside, injuring me. Thankfully, I was released from the hospital later that night.
I assumed those shots were fired only because someone was threatening the lives of
the innocent, and that the police were protecting us. I have since learned that my assumption was incorrect. It now seems clear that two officers, though surrounded by crowds of innocent bystanders like myself, fired repeatedly at a man who was exhibiting unstable behavior, but who had not threatened anyone.
The police claim that the man pulled something from his pocket that looked like a weapon. But the recorded footage plainly shows that the man was never threatening anyone. Instead, he had been acting erratically for some time, throwing himself in the middle of traffic and behaving in a way that anyone dealing with such behavior would recognize as inwardly focused and internally driven.
I am writing this not only because the police shot me, but because this incident highlights a serious problem that the NYPD should make it a priority to address. It so happens that I work everyday with individuals who are struggling with mental health issues, and train others about how to treat such people even when they are acting unpredictably. In doing so, we focus on the importance of remaining calm, listening closely, and ensuring that our own facial expressions and body posture convey assurance and security, rather than threat. Everything we do during a crisis matters. You cannot put out fire with more fire.
According to the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, the NYPD receives 100,000 calls each year to help address “emotionally disturbed individuals.” More broadly, the CDC reports that about 25% of U.S. adults have a mental illness. In a city of more than 8 million people, the police force we employ to protect us should be better trained and prepared for dealing with those who are not threatening us, but who are acting erratically and, even to untrained eyes, bizarrely.
As recently as this fall, a broad coalition of non-–profit and community groups led by Communities for Crisis Intervention Teams (www.ccitnyc.org) called for the creation of specially trained teams to better handle precisely these types of situations.
Rather than taking this episode as an opportunity to learn, the last administration and District Attorney appear to be doing everything to protect the officers who shot indiscriminately, and aggressively prosecute a poor man who did nothing threatening. It was recently announced that the man who the police shot at that evening is being prosecuted for a felony, including apparently for causing my injury, when it was the police who shot me.
Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton, please take a different approach, and empower the NYPD to learn from mistakes of the past. You have so many officers who deserve our respect and admiration. No one is disputing their hard work and dedication. But by using a mentally ill person as a pawn, it reinforces the idea that the NYPD is above the rest of us, and subject to different standards. Let’s help those who need our assistance, rather than spend more time and money incarcerating them and making matters worse.
Very truly yours,
Sahar Khoshakhlagh, PsyD., LMFT of Common Ground Counseling Marriage &
Family Therapy, PLLC