When someone is in the middle of a mental health crisis, the last person they probably need to see is a police officer with a pair of handcuffs. But for a long time, that’s exactly how we’ve handled it.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry wants to change that. She’s making a case that is gaining ground across the state: if we want to fix our justice system, we have to start with the doctor’s office, not the courtroom.
Breaking a tired cycle
The logic is pretty straightforward. Many people who end up in the back of a squad car aren’t necessarily criminals in the traditional sense. They’re people struggling with trauma, addiction, or untreated mental illness.
When these individuals don’t get the help they need, they often end up in a revolving door of arrests and short jail stays. It’s expensive, it’s ineffective, and it doesn’t actually make anyone safer.
And that’s the point Henry is driving home. By investing in behavioral and mental health care early on, we can stop the cycle before it even starts. It’s about being proactive instead of just reacting to the same problems over and over.
A different kind of first responder
So, what does this look like in practice? It means expanding tools like the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. It also means putting more resources into mobile crisis teams—professionals who are trained to de-escalate a situation without reaching for a weapon.
These teams can meet people where they are, whether that’s on a street corner or in their own living room. The goal is to get them into treatment centers or community programs, not a jail cell that isn’t equipped to handle their needs.
The bottom line
This isn’t just a policy meant to sound good. It’s a practical move to clear the backlog in our courts and free up police to focus on serious violent crime. When the right people respond to the right calls, everyone wins.
But the real test will be the funding. Talk is one thing, but building a system that can actually support thousands of people in crisis takes serious investment. Pennsylvania is at a crossroads, and the next few years will show if we’re ready to trade the old way of doing things for something that actually works.