There have been more and more complaints about the homeless and mentally ill converging in many areas around the city, and the mayor and police commissioner say they're working on a multi-agency approach to the problem. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report.

In May, a mentally ill man with a hammer attacked several people including a cop before he was shot. In the past week, a homeless man hit a tourist in the face with a piece of wood and a homeless woman stabbed someone with scissors.

"Our street homeless population is largely people who have mental health challenges, and we need to approach that differently than we have in the past," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "One part of that is training the PD."

Quite often, police officers are on the front lines dealing with the homeless and mentally ill. So now, over the next year, up to 10,000 officers will receive four days of special training to better handler encounters with the homeless and mentally ill.

"How do you approach a person that might have emotional issues, the de-escalation that goes on with that?" said Police Commissioner William Bratton. "Trying to identify symptoms of schizophrenia versus overdose on drugs."

The training will be based on what the NYPD has learned from its homeless outreach program in the subway the last 18 months. Officers often team with mental health and medical experts when dealing with people with serious issues.

Bratton says the city can't handcuff its way out of the problem.

"Arrest is not the way to go," he said. "Forty percent of the population of Rikers have emotional issues. They would probably be better off at a hospital than at Rikers. So that's what the city is trying to comprehensively get its arms around."

For individuals who are violent or breaking laws, they will still be arrested. But the mayor warns New Yorkers that everyone has rights and that homeless people can't be forced to leave certain areas.

"There are certain rules under our constitution where people can be out on the street, and I think in many cases, ways that we may not love, but it is their constitutional right," de Blasio said.

In the coming days, the city plans to release more details on a plan that addresses the homeless and mentally ill situation on the streets.