Zeke Cohen calls for Baltimore City Council hearing on behavioral crisis response

Yahoo

8 hours ago

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen wants the city to take a closer look at behavioral health crisis response issues by adding another hearing to the council's busy oversight schedule this summer.
Cohen's request comes after three people experiencing behavioral health crises died in an eight-day period this month.
June 17: Bilal Yusuf-Muhammad 'B.J.' Abdullah Jr, 36, was shot and killed after exchanging gunfire with Baltimore Police Department officers near the Upton subway station.
June 24: An unidentified man approached a police cruiser stopped at West Franklin Street and North Franklintown Road and walked repeatedly into the middle of the road. An officer tried to restrain the man and called for EMS, but the man became unresponsive before they arrived and died at a hospital hours later, according to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General.
June 25: Police shot and killed Pytorcarcha Brooks, 70, on Mosher Street. Police said Brooks brandished a knife and lunged at one officer before another officer at the scene fired his weapon.
'These tragedies are a heartbreaking reminder that far too many Baltimoreans suffer in silence,' Cohen said in a statement Friday.'Today I am calling for a hearing in the City Council's Public Safety Committee to examine our behavioral health crisis response systems.'
Councilman Mark Conway, who chairs the Public Safety Committee, has sought to hold council hearings on the city's opioid crisis — an epidemic with clear ties to the behavioral health challenges facing Baltimore. The council's upcoming schedule includes hearings related to the opioid crisis on July 9 and July 16, but they will be taken up by the Public Health & Environment Committee.
Conway's advocacy on the opioid crisis put him at odds with Mayor Brandon Scott, who argued earlier this year that holding public hearings would jeopardize Baltimore's ongoing legal efforts to hold pharmaceutical companies responsible for distributing drugs in the city.
The city has already secured more than $400 million in settlements, though a judge ruled that jurors last November awarded Baltimore 'grossly excessive' compensation from pharmaceutical titans McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. This case remains ongoing and could be headed for a retrial if the city does not accept the decision that reduced jurors' original verdict by more than $200 million.
Other notable oversight hearings on the council's upcoming schedule include transportation (July 10), crime reduction/violence prevention (July 15), psychiatric rehabilitation programs (July 23), and recovery homes/substance abuse clinics (July 30).
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