New law being introduced to the Hudson Valley to aid mental health issues
A new tool to help with mental health emergencies is officially being introduced on Thursday called the Green Flashing Light Law.
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A new tool to help with mental health emergencies is officially being introduced on Thursday called the Green Flashing Light Law.
The new law will allow mobile response teams heading to mental health emergencies to display green lights.
These response teams are responding to crisis situations alongside police officers, but aren't always in marked cars.
Drivers are requested to yield to these green lights rather than being required to with red flashing lights.
Joseph Glazer, of the Westchester County Department of Community Mental Health, helped to get the law passed. He says every second counts when someone is having a mental health crisis.
"If a person is in an ongoing state of decline, the quicker you get there the quicker you can stint the decline," says Glazer.
Cities can choose not to use the green lights.
Multiple emergency departments in the Hudson Valley say they are still trying to figure the system out.
