Spectrum News is investigating the handling of mental health calls by local law enforcement. If you or someone you know with a mental health condition has had any interaction with the Buffalo Police Department and would like to share your story, please email me at Camalot.Todd@Charter.com. Thank you. 

The scene mirrored that of Willie Henley’s shooting a month ago.

There was a mental health call.

Police and the nonprofit Crisis Services were at the scene.

The woman remained barricaded in her apartment despite the court-mandated visit to the doctor for her medication.

But the outcome was different.

Aaron McDowell, one of eight members of the newly launched Behavioral Health Unit in the Buffalo Police Department, arrived on the scene. That’s when the trajectory of the situation turned.

For over an hour, McDowell and the woman talked about movies, Mel Gibson, and Chucky from “Child’s Play.”

“At the end of it, we were able to work with Crisis Services and get her out of the house and to the hospital and get her medication,” he said. 

The death of Daniel Prude in Rochester and the shooting of Willie Henley in Buffalo underscored how law enforcement's response to a mental health crisis can end in violence here in Western New York.

Nationally, the killings Black and Brown people in a mental health crisis, like Walter Wallace Jr. in Philadelphia, Nicolas Chavez in Houston or Miles Halls in Walnut Creek, CA, at the hands of police have sparked outrage and criticism — but few studies and policies highlight the intersection of racial bias, mental health, and policing.

Over 30 percent of people with serious mental illness have their first interaction with the mental health system through law enforcement, according to the Study in Blue and Grey by Canadian Mental Health Association.

Yet, people with untreated serious mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed by law enforcement, according to a report by the Treatment Advocacy Center.

The new BPD Behavioral Health Unit, which consists of six trained officers, two lieutenants, three clinicians and a program supervisor, hopes to change that outcome.

The unit partners with Endeavor Health Services thanks to grant money, and will have one of their licensed mental health providers join law enforcement in this unit on mental health calls.

Each member of the Behavioral Health Unit was selected for very specific reasons.

For some, they’ve studied psychology, and for others, like McDowell, they’re here because someone they love struggles with behavioral health.

“I’ve had family members who have dealt with substance abuse, I have a brother who has developmental disability growing up,” he said. “A lot of family members who suffer with mental health — so I’ve always had...a soft spot in my heart for people in that community.”

Despite the backlash of the partnership by 205 mental health professionals in Western New York who signed a letter to Buffalo Mayor Bryon Brown and Buffalo City Council members criticizing the new unit, it was implemented.

In the two weeks since the graduation of the eight law officers on BPD’s Behavioral Health Unit, not a single one of the more than 60 mental health calls has ended in violence.

Those on this unit received an additional 20 hours of training on top of the 32 hours of crisis intervention training that is already offered to law enforcement in Erie County.

Unlike officers trained only in crisis intervention who still have to respond to accidents or shootings, this unit has the time to address these mental health calls, said Captain Amber Beyer, who oversees the BPD Crisis Intervention Team and this unit.

That’s their biggest advantage, Beyer said.

“I think with mental health calls they often take the most time to be able to really slow things down and link people with services,” she said. “With the behavioral health team, we really have more time to devote to those situations.”

There are more than 600 officers who have been trained in CIT by Crisis Services throughout Erie County, but the Behavioral Health Unit exclusively serves the city of Buffalo.

Despite their new specialized unit, the goal now isn’t more police involvement in mental health care, but less.

“The ultimate goal is to reduce police contact, to reduce calls into 911. We want to get them the help that they need, so then they don’t have to call us anymore,” Beyer said.

Crisis Services operates a 24-hour, 7-day hotline at 716-834-3131, supportive services for families in crisis through their established Mobile Outreach Program, and/or visit their website for more information.