It’s a common lament of the nation’s police officers and prison wardens alike: A large proportion of the crime suspects and inmates they find themselves dealing with suffer from mental illness, substance-abuse issues, or both.

Today, a coalition of organizations spanning justice and health interests are launching a new campaign to focus on what they call “behavioral health issues in the criminal justice system.”

At a meeting in Washington, D.C., the groups are issuing what they termed consensus recommendations to the next Congress and Donald Trump’s incoming administration on what should be done about the complex, intertwined issues.

“Mental illness is not a strong predictor of criminal or violent behavior,” the coalition says. “Yet left untreated, it can lead to behaviors that cause too many individuals to wind up in the criminal justice system.”

[For more of this story, written by Ted Gest, go to http://thecrimereport.org/2016...amp;utm_medium=email]