San Jose faces legal pressure over police response to mental health crisis calls

A group of civil rights organizations is ratcheting up the legal pressure on San Jose over longstanding complaints that too often mental health-related emergency calls receive a police response — rather than assistance from mental health professionals.

In a recent letter to Mayor Matt Mahan, lawyers representing local police watchdog group Silicon Valley De-Bug allege the city, which operates the local 911 emergency dispatch center, is violating federal disability law. They argue that by failing to divert a higher number of calls to non-police crisis teams, the city has run afoul of statutes guaranteeing equal access to government support, including emergency response services.