(NEW YORK) — A California mother whose son was shot and killed in 2019 by police during a mental health crisis has partnered with local officials to create a mobile task force to aid those struggling with mental illness.

Taun Hall’s son, Miles, began showing signs of possible mental illness during his teenage years. He would later be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and, as his symptoms progressed, Hall worried about Miles’ safety.

The fears were not unfounded: People with severe, untreated mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed by police, according to Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit based in Arlington, Va. Hall also worried about Miles as a Black man, which made him three times as likely as white people to be killed by law enforcement, according to a study by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Hall reached out to law enforcement in her Walnut Creek neighborhood, a wealthy suburb a few miles from San Francisco, to alert them about her son’s mental health challenges. She also worked with her local mental health officer to open a channel of communication.

“I was trying to be preventive,” Hall said. “I was trying to get things handled before there was a problem.”

Miles’ condition worsened in 2019; he began experiencing delusions and sometimes referred to himself as “Jesus.” But he was 23, legally an adult, and Hall couldn’t force him to get help.

“You see your child going down a mental health kind of spiral… you can see the deterioration, but you can’t do anything to help him.”

When Hall saw Miles’ symptoms getting worse, she reached out to the mental health officer she’d been working with to aid Miles. Hall left a message for her, and called the local police department’s non-emergency line, trying to alert them to Miles’ condition in case her son encountered law enforcement. “I was like, ‘OK, if they know him, they’re gonna respond with care and compassion.’”

The next day, Miles was gardening with his grandmother. A neighbor loaned Miles a gardening tool, a long metal rod that resembled a crow bar. Miles began walking around with the rod, calling it his “staff from God.” He was walking around, saying he was Jesus, when he used the metal rod to break a sliding glass door at the family’s home, Hall said.

Miles came into the home and asked Hall and her husband to leave. They did, in an effort to de-escalate the situation, and Hall called 911. Hall told the 911 operator Miles had a metal rod.

About 10 minutes later, a neighbor called to tell Hall that Miles had been shot. According to police reports, officers responded to several calls that afternoon, not just Hall’s call.

Miles had been pounding on a neighbor’s door and several residents called police. Police footage shows officers calling Miles by his name, shouting at him to “stop” as he approached them, holding the metal rod. Despite their orders, Miles kept moving forward. Then, officers fired a bean-bag round, meant to stop a suspect but not do permanent damage. When that didn’t stop Miles, officers shot him several times with their handguns, killing him.

“The worst fricking moment of, you know, our lives was right then, right there.”

An internal investigation cleared the officers of wrongdoing.

In the years since her son’s death, Hall has worked with Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan to try to stop other families from experiencing the same tragedy. Hall realized that what would have been helpful to her was having someone to call who wasn’t the police. “We needed a different number to call. We needed a different response.”

Replacing police with mobile response units to address low-level calls — like those about mental health — is happening in many cities around the country. Oakland, California, began testing a pilot program in April. The new task force, called MACRO — Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland — was created to provide a first-response option that was separate from the police.

Oakland residents can access the task force by calling 911 and being connected to a special MACRO dispatch center. The task force’s interactions with the public come from what they call “on-view” calls. These take place when the team sees someone who may need assistance and offers resources and basic medical attention.

“If someone’s in need and you can put your eyes on them, you can stop and help them,” said program manager Elliott Jones. “And even if you’re just giving them a bottle of water and sitting them up straight, that’s maybe more compassion they’ve gotten and God knows how long.”

Each MACRO team has an EMT, a crisis intervention specialist and a minivan packed with supplies. The team doesn’t just address low-level mental health concerns. It also helps with homelessness, public intoxication and behavioral issues, among others.

Hall worked with Bauer-Kahan on a bill to expand funding for mental health services in California and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill at the end of September, locking in an 8-year roadmap to fund mobile crisis units across California.

Accessible through the national suicide and crisis line — 988 — these services will connect users to crisis intervention specialists, counselors and peer support workers. Hall says that this is the response that could have helped her son.

“I can’t ever take back a phone call,” said Hall, referring to the 911 call she made the day her son was killed. “I can’t ever take back the officer shooting him…but I can take my pain to purpose and make sure this doesn’t happen to somebody else.”

If you are experiencing suicidal, substance use or other mental health crises please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You will reach a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also go to 988lifeline.org.

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(NEW YORK) — A tropical storm and storm surge warnings are now in effect along the east coast of Florida as Subtropical Storm Nicole makes its way toward the state, according to the National Weather Service.

The NWS warned Monday that Nicole could be as strong as a hurricane when it approaches Florida’s east coast later this week.

The storm could impact election week in the Sunshine State, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is running against Democratic rival Charlie Crist and Rep. Val Demings, D-Fla., is trying to unseat Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 34 counties.

“While this storm does not, at this time, appear that it will become much stronger, I urge all Floridians to be prepared,” he said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor the trajectory and strength of this storm as it moves towards Florida.”

Florida Power & Light is urging customers to prepare for power outages and has activated its emergency response plan ahead of Nicole’s potential impact on the state this week.

“[Hurricane] Ian saturated soil and weakened trees in many parts of the state, so Nicole could cause trees to topple over and other vegetation and debris to blow into overhead power lines and equipment, which may cause outages,” Eric Silagy, chairman and CEO of FPL, said in a statement.

Nicole formed in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean on Monday, becoming the 14th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends this month. Nicole’s center will approach the northwestern Bahamas on Tuesday, move near or over those islands on Wednesday, then approach eastern Florida by Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Currently, Nicole wields maximum sustained winds of about 45 miles per hour, with higher gusts. Winds of 40 mph or greater extend outward up to 275 miles to the east of the storm’s center.

“Gradual strengthening is forecast during the next few days, and Nicole could be near or at hurricane intensity by Wednesday or Wednesday night while it is moving near the northwestern Bahamas,” the National Weather Service said in a public advisory issued Monday morning.

A tropical storm watch is now in effect for the northwestern Bahamas.

Tropical storm conditions are possible in the northwestern Bahamas by Tuesday night or early Wednesday. A storm surge could raise water levels by as much as 3 to 5 feet above normal tide levels along the coast in areas of onshore winds, according to the National Weather Service.

Nicole is expected to produce between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall across the northwestern Bahamas Tuesday through Thursday, with a maximum of 6 inches for localized rain. The storm is expected to bring “heavy rainfall” to parts of Florida and the southeastern United States by mid- to late week, the National Weather Service said.

Between 4 and 7 inches of rainfall is possible along the eastern coastline from Florida to the Carolinas. Tropical storm-force winds of 60 to 70 mph are also in the forecast, depending how much Nicole strengthens. The storm could lead to beach erosion, rough surf and rip currents.

Tropical weather systems have the potential to quickly grow into hurricanes, while subtropical ones do not. A subtropical storm typically generates more rain and heavy thunderstorms. If a subtropical storm intensifies enough to have hurricane-force winds, then it has become fully tropical. There is no such thing as a subtropical hurricane, according to the National Weather Service.

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