Tackling a crisis: When drug abuse, mental health, and homelessness collide. A multi-faceted approach.

In Episode 8 of MCNEW: Duty. Grit. Grinds, I sit down with Sergeant Watson to discuss the development and impact of our jurisdiction's co-responder mental health crisis response team. Over the past decade, we’ve seen a growing intersection of homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse, all contributing to complex challenges in our community. As public concern rose, our city faced increasing pressure to address these issues, particularly when they collided in the form of encampments on private property, public parks, and city streets.

We dive deep into the hurdles we faced, including a major encampment that formed just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down, leading to unhealthy conditions and heightened crime that s ...