Voters favor sending health care workers, not armed police officers, to address mental health crises per a new poll from the National Alliance on Mental Illness: 

  • 76% of voters prefer a response led by mental health professionals (as opposed to police officers) when someone is having a mental health or suicide crisis.
  • 64% of voters agreed with the statement—“I would be afraid the police may hurt my loved one or me while responding to a mental health crisis.”
  • 86% of voters agree with the statement—“By building and providing mental health services across the country, we can prevent people from cycling in and out of emergency rooms, arrests, incarceration, and homelessness.”