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I'm Deborah Becker, in for Magna Chakrabardi and this is on point.

9-1-1 with the edges of the emergency.

Every year in the US, there are an estimated 240 million calls to 9-1-1.

About 20% of them involve someone experiencing a mental health crisis.

When police respond, the outcome can be tragic.

Advocates say police are trained to react to potential dangers quickly and aggressively

and they're not equipped to handle many mental health crises that are often not a threat to public safety.

Research from the treatment advocacy center says those with mental illness

are 16 times more likely to be killed in police encounters than other people approached by law enforcement.

In May of 2020, a 9-1-1 caller in Minneapolis asked for help with a man

who had passed a counterfeit $20 bill in a store.

According to the 9-1-1 transcripts, the caller said the man, George Floyd,

was sitting in a car where he appeared to be drunk and, quote, not in control of himself.

Police responded forcefully when Floyd resisted getting into the cruiser

and they kept a knee on his neck for almost nine minutes.

I can't believe it. I can't believe it, baby.

...