LAPD chief sounds alarm over city’s mental health crisis, pitches plan to take burden off cops

Source: New York Post

The LAPD needs more mental health professionals to help respond to 911 calls, Chief Jim McDonnell told the California Post in an exclusive interview — a tactic mayor-elect Nithya Raman has pledged to support as the two try to bury the hatchet and address the city’s mental-health crisis. The chief met with Raman Thursday for a “get to know each other” session as they hunted for common ground on policing and public safety, finding a place for agreement on the point that too many cops are wasting their time trying to help out the city’s mentally ill.   McDonnell has said that roughly “one-third” of the LAPD’s 1.