On Saturday, Congressman Raja joined Mike Flannery on FOX32 Chicago to talk about Schaumburg Police Department’s new mental health unit. The $340,000 pilot program is entirely paid for by a federal grant secured by Congressman Raja. The Congressman explained to Mike, “I don’t believe in defunding the police. I think we should invest in police departments so they have the capabilities to do what we’re doing here. We want to take police offices individually out of the mental health business [to] pair them up with other resources so that they are meeting people where they are, and dealing with the situation so it doesn’t escalate out of hand.” When asked about the possibility of expanding the program, the Congressman explained, “What I’m hopeful about is that we can glean lessons here that we can apply elsewhere, including Chicago.”
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