§ 3-196 Mental health emergency response reporting.
a. Definitions. For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
B-HEARD. The term “B-HEARD” means the behavioral health emergency assistance response division program of the office, or any successor division or program with the same or substantially similar functions.
Involuntary removal. The term “involuntary removal” means any removal of a person pursuant to section 9.41 of the mental hygiene law or subdivision (a) of section 9.58 of the mental hygiene law.
Mental health emergency call. The term “mental health emergency call” means a call to the 911 emergency assistance system that, after the call is complete, is classified, coded, or otherwise identified in the intergraph computer aided dispatch system or the emergency medical service computer aided dispatch system, or both, as an emotionally disturbed person or any subcategories thereof, including any successor term or subcategory, as determined by the fire department or police department.
Use of force incident. The term “use of force incident” has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision a of section 14-158.
b. Report.
1. No later than June 1, 2027, and every 6 months thereafter, the director of the office, in coordination with the police commissioner, commissioner of information technology and telecommunications, fire commissioner, commissioner of health and mental hygiene, and any other relevant agency head, and in consultation with the New York city health and hospitals corporation, shall submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council, and post to the office’s website, a report regarding mental health emergency calls received during the 6 month period ending 30 days before such report is due. Such report shall include, but need not be limited to, the following, to the extent such information is maintained by the relevant agencies:
(a) The total number of mental health emergency calls, disaggregated by the 911 emergency assistance program dispatch code;
(b) The total number of mental health emergency calls identified as eligible for B-HEARD;
(c) The total number of mental health emergency calls identified as eligible for B-HEARD where B-HEARD is dispatched in response to such emergencies;
(d) The total number of mental health emergency calls responded to by entities other than B-HEARD, disaggregated by type of entity responding, including, but not limited to, law enforcement and emergency medical services;
(e) The average response time between the mental health emergency call and arrival on scene for each type of entity identified pursuant to subparagraph (d) of this paragraph;
(f) The number of mental health emergency calls in response to which additional responding units were requested, disaggregated by type of entity of additional responder requested;
(g) The number of mental health emergency calls in response to which assistance was accepted, disaggregated by type of assistance, including, but not limited to, on-site treatment, transport to a hospital, or referral to a community-based organization;
(h) The number of mental health emergency calls in response to which assistance was refused, disaggregated by outcome, including, but not limited to, involuntary removal, arrest, issuance of a summons, or the person being left at the scene;
(i) The number of mental health emergency calls for which the response involved a use of force incident;
(j) Aggregated demographic information about the subjects of the mental health emergency calls, including their age in ranges to be determined by the fire department and police department, race, ethnicity, disability status, and whether they were experiencing homelessness, to the extent such information is obtainable; and
(k) The aggregate locations reported in mental health emergency calls disaggregated by: (i) patrol precinct, as specified by the police department, (ii) emergency medical services zone, as specified by the fire department, and (iii) borough.
2. The report required pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subdivision shall include a data dictionary or other explanation of abbreviations, codes or acronyms used.
3. No information that is required to be reported pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subdivision shall be reported in a manner that would violate any applicable provision of federal, state, or local law relating to the privacy of information.
4. The report required pursuant to paragraph 1 of this subdivision may include data sourced from different data systems, and the report may therefore reflect inconsistencies across categories of data.
(L.L. 2026/090, 5/16/2026, eff. 5/16/2026)
