Call to Mind: The Fifth Branch

Over the past decade, police in America have shot and killed 1,939 people who were in the middle of a mental health crisis. That’s 20 percent of all police killings in that time. Those deaths helped fuel a movement. Instead of armed police, more than half of the country’s largest cities now send specially trained social workers and EMTs. This new generation of first responders handle 911 calls involving mental illness, substance use disorders, or suicidal thoughts.

Call to Mind: The Fifth Branch is a special program made in partnership with the “Tradeoffs” podcast. This episode takes listeners to Durham, North Carolina, to meet people who have reimagined the city’s crisis-response system.

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