Don't Cop Out: The Street Work That Changed Everything — For Everyone
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 12 August 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When someone’s in crisis, help shouldn’t come with handcuffs.
In this episode of Don't Cop Out, we talk to Justin Madeira of CAHOOTS, Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets—the trailblazing crisis response team proving there’s another way. From mental health calls to medical emergencies, CAHOOTS shows what happens when compassion, not force, answers the call. But can the rest of the nation catch up?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Monopoly game at McDonald's is back. There's over two million pounds worth of cash prizes to be won. |
| 0:06.0 | And a chance to get your hands on some epic prizes. Go on. It's your go. |
| 0:11.0 | 18 plus UK ends 21st of October. Selected menu items. At may be required. May depend on winning moment. |
| 0:18.0 | See macdrears.co.com. |
| 0:20.0 | Welcome to Don't Cop Out. The show that challenges everything you think you know about public safety. |
| 0:25.6 | I'm your host, William C. Anderson. |
| 0:46.3 | Each episode, I'll introduce you to a community safety responder who's leading the charge and creating alternatives to policing. Together, we'll debunk common myths about what keeps us unsafe and introduce you to the people proving that true safety doesn't require a badge |
| 0:55.9 | or a gun today i'm speaking with justin madeira of kahoots let's get into it welcome justin how are you |
| 1:09.6 | doing today i'm doing well thank you so much for having me. |
| 1:13.0 | Amazing. I'm glad to be talking with you. I'm really excited about this conversation. |
| 1:17.3 | So many people believe that the police are the only way to respond to mental health crises. |
| 1:24.5 | How do you challenge that idea through the work you do with cahoots? |
| 1:27.6 | Our work really is to provide that alternative to police, not that they don't have a space to be and a specialty that they are trained for, but mental health crises is one of those things that can be challenging to approach with a badge and a gun. |
| 1:46.0 | When someone is in a mental health crisis and they are struggling, |
| 1:49.8 | and the first thing they see is an authority figure, |
| 1:52.6 | that can make it really challenging for them to even want to connect, |
| 1:56.5 | to solve their crisis, to have that moment to step down, de-escalate, and start finding solutions. |
| 2:05.3 | And so in our work, we really strive to make those connections voluntarily, to ensure that people |
| 2:11.5 | are getting the care that they're needing, and to do it in a way where we are on the same level as |
| 2:15.8 | them, where they can trust what we're doing is in their best interest, and nothing in their past, their history, or what they're currently facing affects their care or treatment, whether that's intoxication, alcohol or drug abuse, current warrants, immigration status, anything like that. |
| 2:33.9 | It never affects their ability to receive care from us and their ability to get their needs met. |
| 2:39.0 | So police are often seen as the default response to danger. |
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