Categories
Richmond

Richmond hosts the Marcus Alert Community Forum

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – The City of Richmond will host a community forum on September 25th from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm to answer questions and gather community feedback on the implementation of the Marcus Alert System.

The forum, the second of its kind this week, will be held online and attendees will be able to register by phone or join using Zoom.

The Marcus Alert is a nationwide program that aims to offer people in mental crisis an alternative to the police. The program is named after Marcus David Peters, a black man who was killed unarmed by the Richmond Police and who was going through a mental crisis.

Riverside Regional Jail, State Prison Board agree to keep the facility open

Nationwide, the concept was endorsed by Democrats in the General Assembly and by Princess Blanding, a candidate for governor and sister of Marcus David Peters.

According to the City of Richmond, their Marcus Alert system will have two main elements: a voluntary database of “health profiles” that will enable emergency teams to determine when a police response is inappropriate, and a process to use mobile crisis teams to replace them in some situations Police.