FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dec. 1, 2020

Media Contact: Dallas Taylor

Content Associate, Corporate Communications

(716) 845.7000 x192 • dtaylor@wned.org

WBFO to Host Discussion Exploring the Intersection of Mental Health and Policing

On Sept. 12, Buffalo police shot Willie Henley, a troubled man that relatives say had a history of mental illness. He was charged with assault after swinging a baseball bat at police. Two weeks earlier, the March 2020 death of Daniel Prude in Rochester came to light with the release of police body camera footage that showed him as a troubled, naked man gasping to breathe in a spit helmet. And suddenly, the already boiling issue of race and policing turned to look at how police interact with people with mental illness. Discover new viewpoints regarding this issue in our panel discussion “Mental Health and Policing: Do Crisis Intervention Teams Work?,” on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 6 pm.

WBFO News Director Dave Debo will host “Mental Health and Policing: Do Crisis Intervention Teams Work?,” a dialogue about the various changes under consideration in Buffalo, including greater use of Crisis Intervention Teams, embedding social workers with police, and other reforms under broader consideration. Interested community members will also be encouraged to ask questions of the panelists.

Included on the panel are Erin M. Moss, a mental health counselor in private practice and past participant in WBFO Facebook programs on race and mental illness; DeJon Hall, a member of Free The People, the umbrella group of several activists working with the Mayor’s office on police reform; and Captain Amber Beyer, health services coordinator of the Buffalo Police Department.

For more information and to register, click here.

WBFO’s Mental Health Initiative is funded by the Patrick P. Lee Foundation.

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