Oct 8, 2007 5:49 pm US/Eastern
Call For Action: Getting The Mentally Disturbed Off NYC Streets
Advocacy Groups Want The State To Do Something Now
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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An off-duty officer shot a man who stabbed two people in lower Manhattan.
CBS
The stabbing spree over the weekend was just the latest incident in which an alleged mentally disabled person exploded into violence, terrifying New Yorkers.
It has prompted calls for officials to do something.
The violence is often bizarre and scary.
"We saw a man standing there in blood, blood all over the sidewalk," a witness to Sunday's madness said.
The person was responding to the latest horror -- two people stabbed in a bloody rampage by a "struggling" schizophrenic who'd gone off his medication. The problem is there are lots if incidents like this:
*January 2007 -- an unruly man off his meds injures four cops.
*September 2006 -- the elderly father of three cops is stabbed by a man who said "voices" in his head ordered him to attack.
*August 2006 -- a man starts shooting at red cars because he thinks the bloods are after him.
*July 2006 -- an ex-con attacks a man with power saws on a subway platform.
Mental health expert D.J. Jaffe says with more and more violence from the mentally ill the state need to pass a law that makes it easier to treat the emotionally disturbed before they explode.
"I do think we need more action," said Jaffe, who works at the Treatment Advocacy Center. "We should be able to treat people before they become dangerous, (and) not be required to wait until after."
And the problem only seems to be getting worse, compounded by a state policy of reducing the population of its mental hospitals dating back several decades. This comes in response to better medication, the need to save money and civil lawsuits.
In 1976, the NYPD took about 1,000 emotionally disturbed people to hospitals for evaluation.
Now, officials say that number is about 70,000 a year.
"It's a challenge every day," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said. "Not a day goes by when the department isn't responding to people who are emotionally disturbed."
Advocates say that while there may be no easy solution, it's something the state and city should address as soon as possible.
Some advocates say the mayor and governor should name a blue ribbon panel to come up with solutions.
Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. says he's in favor of a civil confinement law that makes people take their medication.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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