Bed shortage forces L.A. County mental health staff to rely on police

Under current law, patients must be admitted if they are brought in by police -- but not if they are brought in by a mental health worker. Commissioners seek a quick solution to the problem. Alarmed by reports that Los Angeles County mental health staff -- hobbled by a countywide shortage of beds for the mentally ill -- are increasingly forwarding emergency calls to police, commissioners overseeing the department on Thursday asked that a plan to end the practice be presented by early next month.

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