New Mexico mental health first responders are increasingly civilians, not police

By Andrew Hay ALBUQUERQUE (Reuters) - Unarmed emergency responders Nevada Sanchez and Sean Martin take a police dispatch call in southeast Albuquerque, New Mexico, a city with high rates of violent crime and police shootings. They have no enforcement powers or protective equipment and say they use their voices and brains to deescalate encounters with people in mental health and substance abuse

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