Jabez Chakraborty was experiencing a mental health crisis. A family member called 911 requesting an ambulance, but NYPD officers were first to respond. The moment an officer came in the front door, Chakraborty grabbed a large kitchen knife, charged the officer, and was shot four times.

Could this tragic outcome have been avoided? The following adapted excerpt from my forthcoming book doesn’t answer that question, but it does describe a better approach to mental health crises.

Does the absolute risk of violence during mental health crises justify deadly force? Recall that first-episode psychosis is the most dangerous phase of mental illness. Psychosis is hard to hide, but psychosis alone doesn’t justify the use of deadly force. Deadly force is allowed only if “the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.”

A 2024 article reviewing 22 studies of first-episode psychosis found a 13.4 percent prevalence of “any violence.” That percentage may be “significant,” but the article’s definition of “any violence” included conduct that posed no risk of death or serious physical injury, like merely yelling at someone. Only 2.2 percent of violence resulted in “serious injury.” Deadly force is almost always an overreaction.

In some places, when a person in crisis has no weapon and poses no immediate threat, a response team comprised solely of mental health professionals is dispatched. For decades, we have known that this crisis response model is safer for everyone........

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