The City of Rochester has officially launched its Person in Crisis (PIC) team, a corps of social workers which will be available to respond to mental health and substance abuse calls that would otherwise be fielded by police.
The PIC Team consists of 14 full- and part-time workers who will respond in teams of two to crisis calls around the clock, every day of the week. The decision whether to send the team without police, or in tandem with officers, will be made by 911 and 211 dispatchers, according to the nature of the call. Generally, the team would respond alone if a behavioral issue was at play, no crime was being committed and no weapon was involved.
Spectrum News / WXXI News
The investigation continues into the Wednesday night crash of a military helicopter in Mendon, outside Rochester. Meanwhile, the three soldiers killed in that crash were honored on Thursday.
There were two processions involving a number of area first responders including police and fire vehicles as the bodies of the three National Guard soldiers were brought from the crash site to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office in Brighton.
The U.S. Army is now the lead investigating agency into the crash of the medevac Blackhawk helicopter which was on a training mission at the time.
3 National Guard members who died in New York helicopter crash identified Victoria E. Freile, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
National Guard members die in NY helicopter crash
Replay Video UP NEXT
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Authorities have identified the three National Guard members killed Wednesday night when the military helicopter they were flying crashed in a Mendon field.
Killed were Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steven Skoda, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christian Koch and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Prial.
A New York Army National Guard UH-60 medical evacuation helicopter crashed on a routine training mission after 6:30 p.m. EST Wednesday in a field in Mendon.
The procession included several local law enforcement agencies and fire companies as they led a line of vehicles from the crash site in Mendon, to the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office in Brighton.