Manhattan: The Daily News Editorial Board acknowledges Deborah Danner, Kawaski Trawick and others killed by the NYPD, and those with mental health needs who are incarcerated, and then writes them off as acceptable collateral damage for police-led rapid response to those in emotional distress (”Policing mental illness,” editorial, July 26). The News buys into the faulty premise that police will “defuse potential danger” when the deaths of Trawick, Danner and many others demonstrate the exact opposite. Public safety must include keeping New Yorkers safe from police violence. Dismissing police killings when examining the effectiveness of public policy is an unacceptable precedent to set. The city’s pilot was meant to reduce NYPD involvement in mental health response. It utterly fails. Many individuals are still being subjected to jail-like hospital stays instead of receiving services. This pilot will entrench police in mental health response and guarantee continued brutalization, criminalization and killings of New Yorkers experiencing emotional crises without addressing their needs. Loyda Colon, executive director, Justice Committee
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