Five Democratic candidates for Buffalo mayor answered questions from disabled residents during a forum hosted by Western New York Independent Living. But conversations around mental health and policing during the event showed that no matter who is elected, this issue will be a challenge for the next mayor.
The voters and advocates in attendance pressed some of the candidates on mental health and policing, especially how the city handles crisis situations. Acting Mayor Christopher Scanlon focused on the city’s embedded behavioral health team and his proactive patrols. Candidate Anthony Tyson-Thompson called for a task force and questioned training. Council member Rasheed Wyatt emphasized the need for better metrics and unified action from the city. The conversation revealed issues that are present across the US - from gaps in training, data, and accountability in how police interact with disabled and intersectional communities.
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript written by an external contractor and may be updated over time to be more accurate.
Emyle Watkins: Hi, I'm Emyle Watkins, and this is the Disabilities Beat.
Buffalo residents who are registered Democrats are voting between five candidates for who will be the party's nominee for mayor in November's general election. All five of these candidates appear to be making a targeted effort at winning over the disability community. Last week, they appeared at Western New York Independent Living's Meet the Candidates Event, where disabled people could question them directly on their plans for the city.
Speaker 2: Over-policing is a huge issue in pretty much all the cities. What is your stance on removing police from mental health calls?
Speaker 3: What, if any, initiatives can the city take to expand access to culturally competent mental health treatment for residents?
Emyle Watkins: Mental health and policing were two topics that came up frequently. At WNYIL, an organization that advocates for people with mental health conditions, it's no surprise that questions about mental health were on the sheets of example questions distributed and on people's minds. However, the conversation showed that no matter who is elected, there is no simple solution.
Christopher Sca...: Yeah, I think it's very tricky, it's, you know...
Emyle Watkins: Current acting mayor and longtime South District council member, Christopher Scanlon, had this to say in response to the question of removing police from mental health calls.
Christopher Sca...: I know a lot of officers and a lot of times calls that may not seem like they could be threatening or could become violent, do very quickly. So I think it's very difficult to send maybe a clinician or a mental health professional or someone else out by themselves. I think they should take the lead in a lot of the situations and then if something goes south, the officer's there for backup. But we have that at the City of Buffalo, we have the Behavioral Health Team embedded within the police department.
Emyle Watkins: The assumption that people with serious mental health conditions are violent is widely disputed. One of the most well-known studies on the issue showed that excluding people impacted by substance use, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of violence when comparing neighborhood controls and recently released mental health patients.
Anthony Tyson-T...: I don't think it's a matter if we're older policed, I honestly have to say, it's a matter of how prepared our we are to handle those calls.
Emyle Watkins: When asked the same question, candidate Anthony Tyson-Thompson questioned if city police have proper training when it comes to mental health and disability.
Anthony Tyson-T...: So are we properly training are officers to handle it. So I'm open to the idea of having also people who are more talented and expressed in social work and mental trauma be a part of the police enforcement. But I think the most effective way to do it is to create a task force of people who are trained specifically in mental health responses.
Emyle Watkins: According to the ARC Michigan and the National Conference of State Legislatures, no more than 20 states have laws in the books requiring some sort of police training on people with disabilities. The language in New York's law focuses on people with developmental disabilities, according to NCSL's database.
Not every candidate was asked about mental health or policing, but Scanlon, Tyson-Thompson and University District Council member, Rasheed Wyatt all seemed to question what the city needs. Tyson-Thompson talked about training and informed responders. Scanlon brought up his proactive police patrols to build better relationships between community members and police. Wyatt was asked about tackling mental health for city residents in general. He had this to say.
Rasheed Wyatt: Individual groups do those things, but I think that we can get more bang for our buck when we look at how do we do it in a unified way using those resources, getting people engaged, and really looking at measurements. Because right now, I don't know of any measurements.
Emyle Watkins: The reality is there isn't comprehensive specific data on the use of force, the advocacy of police training programs, and police interactions when it comes to people with disabilities and intersectional communities. American Progress Senior Fellow Vilissa Thompson, wrote In 2021, quote, "In the United States, 50% of people killed by law enforcement are disabled, and more than half of disabled African-Americans have been arrested by the time they turned 28, double the risk in comparison to their white disabled counterparts. While these statistics provide basic insight to how law enforcement engage with parts of the disability community, much remains unknown."
You've been listening to The Disabilities Beat from Buffalo Toronto Public Media. You can listen to The Disabilities Beat segment on demand, view a transcript in plain language description for every episode on our website at btpm.org. I'm Emyle Watkins, thanks for listening.
