Will NYPD's New Training Program Decrease Their Abuse Of Power Against Mentally Ill? (CARTOON)

Through the years the New York Police Department has faced a wide range of scrutiny in handling situations as it pertains to mentally ill residents. Such ill-advised confrontations has led the country’s largest police department to combat their traditional procedures with the state’s new budget for a new pilot program to train officers on how to properly deal with the mentally ill.

According to the New York Daily News, mental health advocates initially proposed the $400k training program to help officers assess and de-escalate confrontations and avoid the use of force when called to incidents involving psychologically troubled people, which also includes guidance for 911 dispatchers on how to gather information as it pertains to mental health and addiction issues.

While the state’s new initiative is reportedly already in use by approximately 2,700 jurisdictions nationwide, some have already illustrated their interpretation on how New York’s finest will conduct themselves during each training.

Check out cartoonist Kevin Eason's depiction of NYPD’s new pilot program below.

About the artist:

Kevin Eason is a freelance editorial cartoonist and illustrator from New Jersey. His brand of satire covers news events in politics, entertainment, sports and much more. Kevin’s work features include: Gannett, TVOne, Uptown, The Urban Daily, NAACP, Cengage Publishing, Bossip, WBLS_107.5FM, and various newspapers and magazines throughout the country. Follow him on Facebook.