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NEW YORK (WABC) — There’s an undeniable, palpable sense of fear in New York City right now — people fear they’ll be the next victim of a random attack.
It happens too often – the brutal stabbing of a veteran FDNY lieutenant and the brutal beating of a woman in a subway station. The victims did not know their attackers, who both had mental health problems.
That’s what Eyewitness Mayor Eric Adams asked.
“Most of the people we see from these have hospital bands, we know they’ve been in the system, right and they come back — that’s the problem,” Adams said.
Officials are seeing an uptick in 911 calls involving emotionally disturbed people.
“There’s a small number, if they don’t get the care they need, it’s a very powerful experience, and that’s what we’re seeing,” Adams said.
Related | Mental health information and resources
When it comes to 911 calls in crisis, so far this year, there have been about 131,000 calls — up from about 128,000 the same time last year. That’s an eight percent increase – about 500 every day, which is a staggering number.
Mayor Adams acknowledged that the system has been failing for some time – one person has a room, some take medication and then are released.
A better solution, Adams called the “clubhouse model,” is a multipronged approach that goes beyond policing.
“Our goal now is to build that social network infrastructure — we need to catch people before they do the attacks, and we haven’t been doing that,” Adams said.
This sets up a non-working revolving door condition.
“You’re in the hospital with me, find out you have violent tendencies, schizophrenia or some other issue, and I have to hand you over to someone – I’m not going to put you back on the street,” he added.
If that is not the case – but that will be the case when the person strikes again.
“It’s not going to get better, you’ve got to do something, you’ve got to change something,” Adams said.
Read more Long Island restaurant owner owes workers thousands of dollars in back wages, NY state says
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