Detroit Evening Report: Mayor Duggan, Detroit Police Chief White call for bolstering mental health services at Mackinac Policy Conference

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Police Chief James White asked state leaders at the Mackinac Policy Conference to address Michigan’s mental health crisis.

Detroit Police get nearly 30 calls a day about residents experiencing mental health issues, with some of those situations having fatal results. White says police can only do so much.

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“We know when someone shoots someone because of road rage, that’s not something that you can talk someone out of. Theres something going on,” White said during a panel at the conference. “We know when we are averaging a barricaded gunman a week — someone is isolating themselves in a home threatening to kill themselves because their girlfriend or boyfriend broke up with them — that we’ve got a big problem.”

White started a mental health unit within the Detroit Police Department in 2022, but says there is still more to be done. Duggan says the state needs more treatment centers and long-term care facilities.

“In the last three or four years, we’ve seen more commitment from the Governor and the Legislature,” Duggan said, “but we’ve got so much more to go.”

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