Politics & Bull Shit: Eric Adams "Public Safety" Plan

What could possibly go wrong?

NYC GOVpressoffice@cityhall.nyc.gov, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to another post from my essay series titled, “Politics and Bullshit.” This week I wanted to take some time to unpack a proposal from one of the more well known “moderates” in the country, Mayor Eric Adams. 

As some of you may know, the Mayor announced a policy change that “directs police officers and street outreach workers to transport someone to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation if they appear to be unable to meet their own basic needs.”

As NPR correctly reported, that is a significant shift from the previous policy which allowed for hospitalization if someone “poses as a threat to themselves or others.” Since announcing this change, the Adams administration has faced sharp criticism across the board. In response, the Mayor stated that his idea has “inspired creative energy”, because of course, no one, and I mean  absolutely NO ONE was thinking of smart or effective ways to address public safety, mental health, or  homelessness before this announcement. 

Ok, that’s a little shady. Governing is hard, especially when you’re managing one of the biggest Cities in the world, and have to do so while juggling campaign promises, uncontrollable political crises, your budding social life,  and general New York City chaos. What Mayor Adams gets right is that yes, there has been a rise in crime, and there has been an even bigger increase in homelessness. Where he falls short is in the solutions. Changing policy and essentially making it easy to hospitalize people against their will is fucking insane a really bad idea.  But lets dig deeper, like most policies proposed by moderate politicians, the outcome is generally not about solving a problem. Instead, the policy sounds bold, but either doesn’t do enough, or finds a way to make bad challenges worse. This proposal is problematic for a couple of reasons, let’s go through a few of them.

1. It Puts the NYPD in an Impossible Position- The New York Police Department has had a tumultuous relationship with New Yorkers. There are far too many examples of police violence, and racial profiling to mention, and not enough examples of decisive and clear accountability for those violation. To be fair, it is a hard job. Officers are given a gun, a badge, and maybe five minutes of “racial sensitivity training” then are asked to confront all of society's failures, while managing the trauma of witnessing death, suffering, and harm consistently. Having said that, Mayor Adams is trusting the same department that took five years to fire Eric Garner's murderer  to make a judgement call on involuntarily hospitalizing someone. What could go wrong? 

2. This Policy is Clearly Built off of Vibes-  Supporters of Adams policy suggest he is doing this to make us safer. The only problem is, officers and first responders were already allowed to admit people to the hospital for assessment’s. The latest update says you can hospitalize someone if they appear to be “unable to meet their own basic needs.” But what exactly does that mean, and who gets to decide what that looks like? Simply being homeless isn’t a sign of having mental health issues. More often than not it's a painful reminder at how unaffordable this city has become. According to a 2017 report from the NYC Department of Health and Human Services, “one-third of families with children in shelters have a working family member, but they remain unable to find an affordable apartment in the city.” Should we be rounding up these homeless New Yorkers since they are currently unable to meet their need for housing? What about the people who avoid shelters from fear of harassment or violence, should they be forced into hospitals as well? 

3. They Might Not Have Enough Hospital Beds to Hold Everyone- The COVID pandemic was devastating for New York City, one of the places that felt that impact the most was our hospitals. According to the Daily News, they’re not even sure if there will be enough beds to accommodate the forced admissions. If that’s true, we are risking a situation where the police could be taking people to hospitals that are unable to provide the services.

4. The Math Ain’t Mathin- Adams is telling New Yorkers that he’s trying to make us safer by addressing the homeless and mental health crisis. That feels hard to believe when he’s currently pushing for more than a half billion dollars worth of budget cuts to the department of homeless services. You know what agency won't be seeing cuts to their budget? the NYPD  

When Eric Adams ran for office, he promised to make the city safer, and he has the right to implement ideas he believes can accomplish that goal. My challenge with him, as is with other leaders, is when their decisions seem motivated by politics, and poll numbers instead of good government, and public service. When we prioritize political expediency over responsible policies, New Yorkers suffer, especially the most vulnerable ones.