The new court is part of an approach called "sequential interception," which includes programs designed to intervene so that people with mental illness don't get caught up in the criminal justice system - or even killed by it.

The Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team is another example of this interception. Hundreds of officers have been specially trained to de-escalate altercations with people with behavioral problems, using non-lethal force.

Unfortunately for Mumford Morgan, this unit was not called when police shot and killed him last Friday in Dilworth Plaza. Morgan, 59, who was homeless and apparently mentally ill, made 40 calls in just over two hours from an emergency call box in the concourse under the Municipal Services Building. When two police officers arrived, he raised a utility knife and was shot to death.

Mental-health advocates are rightly asking why the CIT was not called to the scene and why police did not use Tasers instead of guns to subdue Mumford. We urge the Police Department to review the case and renew its commitment to CIT.

The court and the CIT are responses to a complex problem that began decades ago when the closing of state hospitals released mentally ill people into the community without adequate support or services.

Decades later, the high numbers of mentally ill people occupying prisons - some reports put the number at 30 percent of the inmate population - suggests that in too many cases, prisons have replaced state hospitals.

This has huge impacts on both management and budgets. Consider: The Philadelphia prison system is the largest provider of mental-health services in the state of Pennsylvania, according to a report from former city prisons chief Leon King.

The mental health court is a small step, but the right one. The new court will begin with 15 carefully screened inmates who are about to be released, who will get supervision and treatment. Funded by a state grant, the court will handle only non-violent offenders. If that works, presumably more ex-inmates will be added to the court's supervision.

There's no shortage of prisoners who could benefit. It's a component of many arrests for public disturbances, theft, drugs, aggressive panhandling and - in less common instances - violent crimes. Add in addiction, homelessness, and an insufficient health-care system and it's no surprise that more mentally ill people are receiving more treatment in jail than in hospitals.

But hospital stays are short compared to prison sentences, and mentally ill prisoners tend to be incarcerated longer than average due in part to their conditions: In jail, they might be taken off medications abruptly, which can lead to acute episodes, behavioral infractions, and more time tacked on. A similar cycle traps recently-released prisoners as they return to the community, leading to high rates of recidivism.

The challenges created when mentally ill people encounter the criminal justice system are complex, and progress is terribly, even fatally, slow.

The Mental Health Court and the Crisis Intervention Team are two steps in the right direction; but neither will make a difference if they're not used. *