Thread by @EdGrapeNutZimm

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter 1) 2 extraordinarily important thinkers, who also know how to implement: @DrPhilGoff (Prof at @Yale & founder/head of @PolicingEquity) & @RepKatiePorter. In the decade since we last redistricted US Congress, police have killed at least 1 person in every one of the 435 districts

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity 2) We've lost political will to legislate national protections against violent racism: "The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act—which would ban chokeholds, restrict the use of no-knock warrants & make some officers personally liable in civil court-remains stalled in the Senate"

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity 3)The #EmmettTill "Anti-lynching legislation (the 14-year-old Black boy whose horrific 1955 murder roused America’s racial consciousness), still isn't law...cynicism about Congress’s willingness&ability to solve an issue like police violence is not only fashionable but rational"

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity 4) "Congress can't end police violence, but can give localities the data, funding + expertise to begin solving a national problem." It's time to pass @RepKatiePorter's H.R.1368 - Mental Health Justice Act of 2021
congress.gov/bill/117th-con…

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity 5) The #MentalHealthJusticeAct, introduced in the House by @katieporteroc "would create a national grant program to pay for first responder units made up of mental health providers on the local level." This is a rational & excellent response to our mental health crisis

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc 6) For 911 calls due to a "mental health crisis, these units would act as an emergency response team. Their goal would be to defuse the immediate crisis & serve as a gateway to resources such as counseling, substance abuse treatment and housing assistance." DATA supports this!

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc 7) "The @RudermanFdn estimates that anywhere from 1/3rd to 50% of all police uses of force involve a civilian living with some kind of disability (mental or physical)." 2016 report: rudermanfoundation.org/wp-content/upl…

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc @RudermanFdn 8) "According to a database maintained by @washingtonpost, nearly 1/4th of people killed by police since 2015 have had CONFIRMED signs of mental illness." (updated 7/2/21) washingtonpost.com/graphics/inves…

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc @RudermanFdn @washingtonpost 9) "surviv[ing] mental health police encounters, often leads to minor criminal charges. Every year, that involvement crowds tens of thousands into jail&prison systems that exacerbate rather than treat their illnesses" @TreatmentAdvCtr Report (2016) treatmentadvocacycenter.org/evidence-and-r…

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc @RudermanFdn @washingtonpost @TreatmentAdvCtr 10) @RepKatiePorter's "Mental Health Justice Act is based on the uncontroversial idea that having a mental health crisis is not a crime; badges&guns are not treatment solutions. cc @SaraWatkins @seancwatkins open.spotify.com/track/3HBtfi7Z…

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc @RudermanFdn @washingtonpost @TreatmentAdvCtr @SaraWatkins @seancwatkins 11)"@dataforprogress @theappeal's nat'l poll: 70% of likely voters support federal grants for programs that send 'responders w/proper training&expertise instead of armed police officers” to calls for mental health crises, substance abuse issues, homelessness or safety check-ins"

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc @RudermanFdn @washingtonpost @TreatmentAdvCtr @SaraWatkins @seancwatkins @dataforprogress @theappeal 12) Here's a link to that national poll (2021) showing "86% of likely voters: 96% Dems, 82% of independents, 78% of @GOP, said it was important for lawmakers to take strong action to change policing practices to prevent police using unnecessary force"
theappeal.org/the-lab/pollin…

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc @RudermanFdn @washingtonpost @TreatmentAdvCtr @SaraWatkins @seancwatkins @dataforprogress @theappeal @GOP 13) Prof @DrPhilGoff @katieporteroc cite Denver & Chicago. Denver implemented 911 ability to route for mental health (not police) support, resulting in "748 calls without a single use of physical force or call for armed backup." Source: wp-denverite.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/upl…

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc @RudermanFdn @washingtonpost @TreatmentAdvCtr @SaraWatkins @seancwatkins @dataforprogress @theappeal @GOP 14) "By contrast, one 2010 study found that the police in Chicago responded to 868 mental health crises in a single month, resulting in injury to 51 people." Source: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

@DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter @Yale @PolicingEquity @katieporteroc @RudermanFdn @washingtonpost @TreatmentAdvCtr @SaraWatkins @seancwatkins @dataforprogress @theappeal @GOP 15) 🙏@PolicingEquity @DrPhilGoff @RepKatiePorter for doing the hard work. Now that they've laid out the data & proposed new law, what will Congress do? "In a nationwide @Gallup poll last summer, only 6% said that 'no changes' to policing were needed." news.gallup.com/poll/315962/am…