Londoners can no longer rely on the police to handle mental-health emergencies

By Georgia Banjo

A burst of acronyms came over the police car radio, galvanising Nick Beasley into action. Beasley, who is in his early 30s and has been a police officer for nine years, keeps the peace in Ealing, a borough in west London. It was 4pm on a bright Friday afternoon in October and I was accompanying him and his colleague Malachi Randell, a lanky trainee detective in his 20s, on the evening shift. Beasley flicked on the sirens and the cars in front curved away, as if pushed aside by a centripetal force. We spun around a few corners, and came to a stop outside a terraced house on a quiet, tree-lined street. Three women, wearing Crocs and headscarves, were standing in a garden full of purple and apricot African daisies. “She’s gone in the living room and smashed up the TV,” said one of them matter-of-factly.