Tag: research organization RTI International

DURHAM, N.C. — When the murder of George Floyd in 2020 sparked widespread demand for police reforms, some cities moved to announce major overhauls of law enforcement. One of the most promising—and popular—proposals was to develop mental-health response units, staffed by social workers or crisis counselors, who could respond to mental-health incidents in lieu of armed police.

The idea grew out of frustration with police over a slew of horrifying and high-profile incidents when law-enforcement officers, dispatched to deal with