The Daniel’s Law Task Force met virtually Wednesday as New York continues to explore reducing police involvement in mental health-related calls.

The program stems from proposed legislation known as Daniel's Law, named for Daniel Prude, who died in 2020 of asphyxiation while in Rochester police custody during a mental health incident.

“No matter where you are in New York state, you should be able to rely on the fact that the right people will show up,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Senator Samra Brouk.

Brouk said according to Daniel’s Law, “the right people” to respond to a mental health crisis are not police officers, but a mental health response unit.

“These are really the only type of health-related crisis that we are sending armed police officers to, simply because we have not created a framework for what this statewide response could look like,” she said.

Meeting periodically, the Daniel’s Law Task Force is working to create that framework. State Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan updated members, saying the taskforce is moving closer to completing recommendations, though Daniel’s Law itself has still not not passed.

“We’re getting to the point here where we are trying to pull things together,” Sullivan said.

That work on Wednesday involved reviewing research from consulting firm NYSTEC, dealing with questions like what is the threshold in which the unit would respond and what terminology would be used to communicate across agencies as such determinations are made.

Brouk says while the taskforce is getting closer to completing its work and some individual municipalities have already developed their own programs, her priority heading into next legislative session is simple.

“We still need to pass Daniel’s Law to make sure New York can provide that kind of compassionate care,” she said.

Brouk emphasized the bill did pass the Senate Mental Health Committee last session, and she expects to continue pushing for its full passage when lawmakers return to Albany in January.