On Youth Psychiatric Emergencies: Police Involvement and Pathways to Better Care

On Youth Psychiatric Emergencies: Police Involvement and Pathways to Better Care

From On the Mind with The Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Psychiatry by Weill Cornell Medicine

January 13, 2026

About this episode

This episode discusses police involvement in youth psychiatric emergencies and explores pathways to better care.

In this episode of On the Mind, host Dr. Daniel Knoepflmacher speaks with Dr. Wilfred Farquharson about police involvement during youth mental health crises. Dr. Farquharson describes his research on the factors associated with police bringing children into psychiatry emergency rooms. Their discussion covers the social, psychological, and clinical implications of law enforcement intervention and shares solution-oriented recommendations for helping the families, schools, providers, and children involved in these challenging emergencies. Dr. Farquharson also speaks about his role leading the NewYork-Presbyterian Center for Childhood and Adolescent Behavioral Health, which is meeting the challenge of escalating youth mental health needs in the community.

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Daniel Knoepflmacher

Guest: Dr. Wilfred Farquharson

Topics covered

  • youth mental health
  • psychiatric emergencies
  • police involvement
  • behavioral health
  • crisis intervention

Keywords

  • youth psychiatric emergencies
  • police involvement
  • mental health crises
  • behavioral health
  • emergency rooms

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: NewYork-Presbyterian Center for Childhood and Adolescent Behavioral Health, Weill Cornell Medicine

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