Opinion: Richmond is reimagining public safety. Will other cities follow?

How did you get this injury I solicited examining the young man s foot He was in my clinic complaining it was numb and tingling Sweeping aside strands of sock lint I discovered a healing wound that looked a couple weeks old Running from the police he notified me The young man had been having a bipolar mental robustness predicament when a neighbor had alerted hoping they could help The young man from his prior encounters with law enforcement knew that his safest option would be to run which is exactly what he was doing when his foot collided with a strip of rebar jutting through a dandelion patch Related Articles Opinion Maternity ward closures in California strain more than women s vitality Opinion Big Oil s recycling lies are well documented We need accountability Opinion Bay Area doctors warn of danger from RFK Jr assault on vaccines Opinion Deporting the parents of young citizens kills their dreams and our future Miley Jerry Brown s changes in led to Oakland s broken establishment in the modern day Here s how to fix it As a family physician in Richmond s Iron Triangle neighborhood I can treat the depression and bandage the wounds that come to my exam room But beyond that door I worry about the well-being and safety of young people in our group Law enforcement one of the largest part basic residents support is seen by youth as something to run from rather than toward when they need help My person is right to feel this way But a new scheme in Richmond gives me reason for hope Richmond s Population Situation Response Undertaking is an alternative to law enforcement embedded within the city s existing call system that will deploy boots-on-the-ground teams to respond to non-violent situations The campaign has lately been re-branded as ROCK or Reach Out with Compassion and Kindness based on population input Think about how plenty of calls are made for noise complaints welfare checks loitering mental vitality checks and the like These are far better suited to teams focused on de-escalation and reservoir navigation rather than armed police Scientific studies echo my individual s story and the promising harm of police despite a mission to serve and protect One nationwide inquiry detected that teenagers who had been stopped by police a lot often proved signs of post-traumatic stress like feeling their heart pounding when recalling the event Another detected that teens who had been stopped by police were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide compared to peers who had no police contact These events have costs not only for the youth directly involved but also their families and locality who must bear witness Long before the scientific region began to pay attention Black and immigrant communities have known the risks of even a simple traffic stop Although police advocates may be concerned about ongoing residents safety and crime the effort in fact stands to help police and fire personnel by freeing them up for more appropriate tasks like violent crimes or life-threatening emergencies I hope ROCK can help Richmond teens and young adults like my person find the backing they need But despite decades of calls for community-based alternatives to policing these programs are still the exception rather than the rule Other than Richmond Oakland and San Francisco have made particular strides in launching their own non-police crisis response programs but programs in other Bay Area cities and beyond remain rare I am committed to caring for the bodies and minds of young people in my public I only hope more local governments can do the same through investing in models like Richmond s ROCK that truly serve and protect Marvin So is a family physician at LifeLong Clinical Care William Jenkins Wellness Center in Richmond