Mental Health Response Teams in Subways

Photo: Squarespace

The New York City subways are notorious for their reports on criminal activity, assault cases and robberies. The lack of safety on these trains has led to the Metropolitan Transit Authority implementing more security cameras and police officers in stations. However, this has not improved reports of violence and dangerous situations.

Police officers are trained to handle a violent case often with violence itself. If a person isn’t cooperating, they are taught to address the situation with force rather than reason. When this is the case, the situation tends to escalate.

To assist in these situations, the involvement of mental health response teams is needed.