Brooklyn, NY - “I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of Iman Morales, who died after being struck by a Taser gun on Wednesday, September 24th. The circumstances surrounding Mr. Morales’ death are an indictment on a broken mental health system and a police department in need of serious and comprehensive evaluation. The drastic budget cuts to critical mental health programming have caused individuals suffering with mental illness, their families, and communities to have to grapple with some disturbing realities. Without the proper services, support systems, resources and treatment needed to help those individuals live healthy lives, these types of tragedies will persist.

The federal government needs to get its house in order and make mental health services a priority in the federal budget.  This should be a wake-up call to the City of New York Police Department that it needs to reform its training protocols and standard operating procedures when dealing with the mentally ill.  This should also be a wake-up call to our community that we need to band together for the sake of some of our most vulnerable, often ignored, citizens.  Mr. Iman Morales’ death cannot be dismissed in vain.”

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