A program pairing a police officer with a mental health worker in Hamilton has reduced the apprehension rate under the Mental Health Act from 75 per cent of calls police respond to for people in crisis to 17 per cent.
Summary
- The program pairs a police officer with a mental health worker to answer 911 calls involving people in mental health crises.
- In the eight years since the program launched in Hamilton, there has been a marked reduction in taking people in mental health crisis into custody.
- (Submitted by Lisa Longworth)Lisa Longworth, the provincial mental health lead with the Ontario Provincial Police, noted that mental health rapid response teams are particularly important during the holiday season and afterwards as winter sets in.
- Livingston cited the examples of Toronto, which has launched a non-police crisis response team, and Victoria, which is planning to launch a similar team.
- The Ontario Provincial Police has introduced mental health crisis workers into all four of its OPP call centres.