Three years after Daniel Prude's death, where does Daniel's Law stand?

Joe Prude struggled to light a candle on Jefferson Avenue in Rochester at a recent community vigil held to honor Daniel Prude.

On March 23, 2020, Joe Prude asked Rochester police not to kill Daniel, 41, who was experiencing a mental health crisis. But Daniel Prude did die, a few days after police restrained and asphyxiated him.

Three years later, Joe Prude is still processing the heartache.

"It's one hell of an emotional moment to digest," Joe Prude said. "The toughest part of it all is that I have to rehash it every time this anniversary comes up."

After Daniel Prude's death became public in the summer of 2020, protests followed. Advocates and political leaders also have pushed for an alternative response to mental health crisis calls.

Grassroots marches in Rochester have morphed into meetings in Albany as people advocate for the passage of Daniel's Law, legislation that would require a public health-based approach to aid anyone in New York experiencing a mental health or substance abuse emergency.

The genesis of the law was conversations between Free The People Roc and Joe Prude as they watched footage of the moments that led to his brother's demise, said Rochester City Council member Stanley Martin.

"It was just this deep sadness," Martin remembers.

According to Martin, an organizer with Free The People Roc, Joe Prude's wondered what would have happened if someone who responded to his emergency call for help had seen his brother "as a human being, not a threat?"

Where does Daniel's Law stand as of March 2023?

April 1 is the deadline for the state budget in Albany.

State Senator Samra Brouk said $10 million is needed to support a pilot program that would create a task force to determine how a shift in crisis response would work. Brouk, who grew up minutes from Jefferson Avenue, discussed Daniel's Law with Free The People Roc before she was elected. It was her first major piece of legislation.

"The idea is that if crisis response systems comply with Daniel's Law tenets, they'll be able to access grant funding through this appropriation," Brouk said.

Under Daniel's Law, trained mental health response units would respond to eligible emergency calls instead of armed police officers. According to a report by the Treatment Advocacy Center, people with untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter.

Senator Brouk believes that stat should alleviate concerns about the potential danger of someone other than a cop responding to a mental health call.

"A large majority of the time, those with mental illness are more often the ones in danger."

Councilmember Martin said most of the opposition to Daniel's law centers around the public's inability to imagine a society where the police aren't the solution to social problems.

Through research, Martin discovered CAHOOTS in Eugene, Oregon, and the STAR program in Dallas, Texas, as examples of how Daniel's Law could work in New York, including re-training 911 dispatchers to identify which calls require more than the standard police response.

How one mother sees Daniel's Law

Ronieka Burns says that she, too, wishes someone other than law enforcement would have shown up when she needed support for her daughter, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and oppositional defiant disorder at age 13.

Burns says she's dialed 911 numerous times. When her daughter would run away from home, she said, police would ask what she did to provoke the teen's disappearance.

"Or they would tell me I was exaggerating," Burns said. "I've even had child protective services called on me."

Her daughter, now 25, is an assistant for her non-profit You Are Beautifully Made, which seeks to help parents navigate and access Monroe County's mental health resources.

"The parents I see don't even know who to approach," Burns said. "And when they do, they have to wait three months. What are you going to do in the meantime? Pray?"

Contact Robert Bell at: rlbell@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @byrobbell & Instagram: @byrobbell.

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: What's happening with Daniel's Law, inspired by Daniel Prude death?