DANIEL’S LAW NY

In March 2020, Daniel Prude was experiencing an acute mental health crisis when his family called 911 for help. He was naked in the street, and posed no risk to any other person. Yet, Rochester Police responded in force, handcuffed him, placed a hood over his head, and held him face down on the cold pavement until he stopped breathing. Daniel Prude was mocked and treated cruelly by officers with no understanding of his needs. Daniel Prude was a man experiencing an obvious mental health crisis, and he deserved care and dignity – but he was denied both. Instead, police killed him.

To support the coalition effort for passing Daniel's Law in New York State, in the third anniversary of Daniel Prude death I developed a social media toolkit (Catalyst Kit) explaining the importance of passing Daniel's Law and urging support for it in New York. 

The social media graphics and toolkit were utilized by various organizations across the state to bring attention to elected officials on prioritizing this issue.

What is Daniel's Law? Daniel’s Law provides a pathway for true community safety by connecting people in crisis with the services and supports they truly need. Daniel’s Law will provide 24/7 crisis response units consisting of trained mental health workers, peers and EMTs to respond to people in crisis. These crisis response units will become the default response to people experiencing mental health or substance use crises.