New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani plans to deploy social workers for 911 calls instead of police officers, despite a similar initiative that is already failing.
The Big Apple launched the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division (B-HEARD) program in 2021 — it currently only operates in some neighborhoods. The teams responding to 911 calls consisted of two New York City Fire Department (FDNY) officers and EMTs and one social worker.
An audit of the pilot program did not bode well for Mamdani’s plans…