America is “treating” mental illness through incarceration - and the price we are paying both in dollars and human capital is enormous. It’s time to take action and start treating mental illness as a health issue, not a crime. And there’s no excuse not to. Solutions have already started to be implemented in various cities around the US that save tax payers money and victims their human dignity.

Part One of This is Crazy: Criminalizing Mental Health, our new three part series, focuses on the critical and immediate need for the treatment of mental illness through a public health system, not the barbaric criminalization of it. It details what happens when police are not properly trained to deal with people with mental illness. Part two and three are coming soon.