"Health" was described by The World Health Organization in 1948 as "a state of physical, mental, and social wellbeing." Police officers are trained to uphold the law but need extensive training in handling #mentalhealth calls. There is a serious need for effective responses to people experiencing severe emotional distress; the city of Tampa Police Department acknowledges this created its Behavioral Resources Unit.

Working with Mayor Jane Castor, the city council has made a concerted effort to improve police response to mental health calls over the past few years. John Dingfelder, at the time a member of the city council, proposed in 2020 that $1 million should be used to fund an overhaul of the mental health response efforts of the Tampa Police Department. 

Mayor Jane Castor supported the interest in how police officers respond to mental health calls, but she emphasized that the money for the project was not sourced from the city's budget. Instead, it would be financed with grants. 

The city council members voted unanimously to work with the Mayor to source funds to work on the initiative to include mental health professionals in police responses. 

The Tampa #Police Department is decidedly in favor of its officers working alongside mental health professionals. Brian Dugan, Tampa's Police Chief until 2021, said that a better mental health response was a top priority: "we are going to work with mental health professionals as we build this." However, some mental-health activists would instead like a more civilian-based approach. 

Some people believe that police should be involved in responding to mental health calls. However, it must be a collaborative effort alongside mental health professionals who are specifically trained to deal with crises. Others disagree, saying that police should not be involved in mental health crisis response because they are trained to uphold the law, not to facilitate the mental wellbeing of citizens in turmoil. They claim that their skepticism is supported by several incidents around the country where police have been accused of mishandling mental-health calls.

The question up for debate: Should #Police be involved in #MentalHealth response calls?