The Third Floor: Charity Hospital New Orleans Psych Ward

After 18 years commanding a specialized unit within the New Orleans Police Department and intervening with mentally ill people going through psychiatric emergencies, Richard Wagner came to appreciate today's toxic divisiveness invading our communities nationwide. By reading this book, you'll have the antidote to identify how cities can return to a more civil approach regarding law enforcement and responding to those experiencing a psychiatric crisis. One unintended outcome was the "marrying" of the law enforcement and mental health professions. Defunding the police becomes lesser of an issue when law enforcement's limited resources are focused on pursuing true criminals instead of dealing with mentally ill people in psychiatric emergencies-a population in which the cops admittedly don't have enough training for effective intervention. The reader will also come to appreciate the inadvertent humor coming from the calls for service that were answered by Unit 1826: the "Disoriented Express," as affectionately nicknamed by NOPD. Thirty-nine years later, the innovative program is still transporting mentally ill patients to treatment facilities.