By Jeremy Walsh
The hearing, held jointly by the Mental Health and Public Safety committees, examined police procedure for dealing with emotionally disturbed persons. City Council members criticized a lack of information sharing, starting with what regular patrol officers can access when responding to an EDP call.”Lack of information to our first responders is a big issue,” said Peter Vallone (D-Astoria), chairman of the Public Safety Committee.According to Robert Gianelli, the city's chief of patrol, officers dispatched to an EDP call are unable to search records to see how many previous calls have come from the location in the past year. Specialized units like the Tactical Assistance Response Unit and the hostage negotiation team have access to the database, he said, but the 911 dispatch system does not.Moreover, hospitals often bar police from getting access to patient records in these situations, Gianelli said.He cited the Feb. 22 hostage standoff in Long Island City as an example. By searching previous “aided” reports, police determined they had dealt with the standoff's suspect, Vincent Ricks, before.”We traced him to Woodhull Hospital. Then we hit our second barrier,” he said. “Because of privacy, they wouldn't share anything with us.”Susan Petito, NYPD assistant commisioner of government relations, said the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and state confidentiality laws are responsible for the hurdle.”I don't think the City Council can do much,” she said.”HIPAA is a major barrier,” said Councilman Oliver Koppell (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the Mental Health Commitee. “But it's a law, and the law can be changed.” He suggested petitioning Congress about the issue.But John Gresham, an attorney with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, said HIPAA already contains a law enforcement exception allowing – but not requiring – a health care provider to share patient information for law enforcement purposes. He said such a provision also exists in state confidentiality laws.”I don't know that you need to change either,” he said.Koppell also asked the NYPD to look into working more closely with the city Mental Health Department's mobile crisis teams, who deal with patients who don't regularly attend doctor's appointments at home in non-emergency situations.Gianelli replied that officers in the Emergency Service Unit and hostage negotiation team are regarded as mental health experts.”It may well be appropriate in some uses to get a non-police response,” Koppell said. “I can see a different response from an EDP approached by a police officer as opposed to someone who says, 'I'm Dr. Smith.'”Gianelli agreed to get back to Koppell by May 1 on the feasibility of closer collaboration between the two agencies.Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail a jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
