In a first of its kind for Massachusetts, several disability organizations sued the city of Worcester today, alleging discrimination in how it handles 911 calls.
In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court on Monday, three organizations that work with children and adults with mental disabilities said that when someone calls 911 in Worcester for a mental health crisis — such as suicidal ideation or PTSD episodes — armed officers are the first responders. That’s a marked difference from reports of a physical health problem — heart attack, stroke or chest pain — to which the city sends EMTs and health professionals.
The plaintiffs — the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Massachusetts, NAMI of Central Massachusetts and the Parent/Professional Advocacy League of Westborough — argue the disparity amounts to a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. People with mental health disabilities, they argue, are getting unequal services.
“That’s a form of discrimination under the ADA,” said Steven Schwartz, an attorney with the Center for Public Representation, one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs.
While the suit is a first in this state, there are other lawsuits making their way through the courts in Washington, D.C. and Oregon. In those cases, judges have said that the ADA does apply to 911 responses. Separately, federal investigations in Louisville and Minneapolis have found 911 responses violate civil rights. According to Schwartz, none of those cases have been resolved yet.
The plaintiffs say that responding with a strong police presence increases trauma, risks violence and can lead to wrongful hospitalization. They also say that family members or friends may be less likely to call 911 if they think armed police will respond.
Advocates sometimes advise families to request that police avoid putting on their sirens and not bring multiple cars, according to Pam Hooks Sager, executive director of PPAL, especially when children are involved.
“When people are in crisis and the police show up, sirens blaring ... uniforms on with the guns and everything — it’s traumatizing,” she said.
Eliza Williamson, executive director of NAMI Massachusetts, called the situation “inequitable.”
“People experiencing a mental health crisis deserve the same health-centered response as anyone facing a physical medical emergency … that is grounded in dignity and support and I think that that’s reflective of the intention of the Americans Disabilities Act,” she said.
Williamson says the response to a person with mental illness in crisis should be focused on “time, compassion, trained professionals.” with a goal of deescalation.
“Besides being clinically effective in the particular individual circumstance, it’s a better systemic solution because it assures the citizenry … that they’re going to get the right kind of response,” Schwartz said.
Representatives from the City of Worcester and Worcester Police Department declined to comment on Monday.
Post-George Floyd efforts abandoned
The lawsuit lays out how after the murder of George Floyd, the city looked internally at its 911 responses and recognized problems in how it handles mental health crises, and worked with Worcester Polytechnic Institute to produce a set of recommendations. In 2023, Worcester developed a pilot program focused on “alternative response,” but disbanded it after less than a year and a half because of leadership changes and program priorities. The plaintiffs say that’s why they chose Worcester as the location for this new lawsuit.
In 2024, a two-year Department of Justice investigation into the Worcester Police Department found it engaged in excessive force and that officers “rapidly escalate” minor incidents.
The advocates say the practice is not unique to Worcester. Police response to mental health crises has been a topic of debate among other cities in Massachusetts and across the country, including in Cambridge after the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Sayed Faisal in 2023. Some cities, like Lynn, have deployed “calm teams” made up of social service workers to aide in mental health crises.
Psychiatry research shows that people with mental health disabilities experience use of force by police twelve times more often than people with those disabilities. Mental health support is already a challenge to access, Williamson said, given worker shortages and federal funding cuts, underscoring the importance of the case.
“At every level of our healthcare system, it is so overburdened that there are people who are just not able to get support and treatment at levels, that haven’t been the case before,” she said. “And it’s also a difficult time to be in the world.”
Earlier this month in Maryland, a 25-year old man with autism called 911 because he was having suicidal thoughts. Police say he was holding a knife and fatally shot him. Schwartz said it’s an example of what could have happened if a trained professional who knew about the person’s diagnosis had responded instead.
“The professionals would know there’s certain things you don’t do that will predictably escalate the situation. And that’s exactly what happened in Maryland,” he said.
Schwartz said the case is not “anti-police,” but rather focused on changing how the system operates. The plaintiffs are open to a “collaborative solution” by working with the city, Schwartz said, or a judge order to compel the city to provide “an equal response to people with mental illness as they do to people with physical health emergencies.”
