Mayor accelerates timeline for new agency following NYPD police shooting of man experiencing psychiatric emergency
Mamdani Pledges Accelerated Launch of Mental Health-Focused Response Department
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced plans to accelerate the implementation of his signature Department of Community Safety following a January police shooting of a 22-year-old Bangladeshi man experiencing a mental health crisis. The incident, which occurred when Jabez Chakraborty was shot multiple times by an NYPD officer after his family called 911 requesting medical assistance, crystallized the need for mental health workers and social service professionals to take the lead in responding to psychiatric emergencies rather than armed police officers. The mayor’s proposed agency would mark a fundamental restructuring of how the city addresses mental health crises, homelessness, and other calls for service traditionally handled by law enforcement.
A Tragedy That Underscores Systemic Gaps
The January 26 incident began when Chakraborty’s mother called 911 requesting an ambulance, telling dispatchers her son was experiencing emotional distress and needed involuntary removal. Body camera footage released by the NYPD showed officers arriving at the Queens home and encountering Chakraborty holding a kitchen knife in his family’s kitchen. Police repeatedly ordered him to drop the weapon. Chakraborty, who has lived with schizophrenia for many years, charged toward officers, resulting in multiple officers firing their weapons. Chakraborty survived and remains hospitalized. After reviewing the body camera footage and meeting with Chakraborty’s family, Mamdani stated clearly that the young man needed mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution. He argued the incident exemplified the failure of current crisis response systems.
Envisioning a Different Response Model
The Mamdani administration’s Department of Community Safety would deploy clinicians, behavioral health specialists, peer counselors, and paramedics to respond to calls involving mental health crises, homelessness, addiction, and other non-criminal emergency situations. The department would operate independently from the NYPD while maintaining coordination with police for situations involving weapons or active violence. The administration is exploring co-response models in which mental health professionals accompany police officers in circumstances where risk assessment indicates potential danger. The proposal builds on the existing Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division program, or B-HEARD, which has been limited to 31 precincts and operates with flat funding at $35 million annually for three years. Mamdani intends to expand B-HEARD to all 78 precincts and increase funding by 150 percent to approximately $87 million annually. The full Department of Community Safety is projected to cost roughly $1 billion annually when fully operational.
Building Community Trust and Preventing Tragedy
Advocates for mental health-centered crisis response argue that sending armed officers to psychiatric emergencies frequently escalates situations rather than de-escalating them. Maggie Mortali, CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness New York City, emphasized that effective crisis response requires that mental health professionals, not police, take the lead. She called for reforms to ensure trained clinicians accompany any law enforcement response, creating what she termed “non-police crisis response” capability. South Asian immigrant communities expressed particular concern following Chakraborty’s shooting, drawing parallels to the 2024 shooting of Win Rozario, a 19-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant killed by NYPD officers responding to a mental health emergency in Ozone Park, Queens. Both incidents began with families calling 911 seeking medical assistance, highlighting the consequences when police rather than health workers respond to psychiatric crises. The administration also announced expansion of single-room shelter units and safe haven beds designed to serve individuals resistant to traditional shelters, components of the broader Community Safety initiative. Research published by The City has shown that 911 dispatchers route the vast majority of mental health crisis calls to police even in neighborhoods where B-HEARD operates, suggesting systemic barriers to implementation that the new department would need to overcome. For detailed mental health resources and crisis services, visit NYC Department of Health. Information about B-HEARD and its expansion is available at B-HEARD Program Details. Learn more about mental health advocacy at National Alliance Mental Illness. Community-based mental health models are discussed at Prism Reports.
