It's extremely rare

The government's puntitive drug policies actively kill an average of 21 Canadians a day by fueling an increasingly unpredictable and poisoned drug supply, but I digress

If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to sign the ECPJS petition for an immediate moratorium on Police response to Mental health calls. 5/11

-- calling for an end to police-led wellness checks after the tragic loss of two community members during HRP “wellness check” interventions where tasers were deployed.

Here are the results of the vote for the Community Crisis Diversion Pilot.

3/11

Yes, I know her. Thanks

I've been advocating on this for 5 years along with an army of others. Changes are coming. Too slowly, though.

Surely, with your experience, you've seen people in crisis supported safely without police presence. I saw this daily when working in the mental health system, including forensic mental health contexts. NGO workers who support folks with mental health needs do crisis support routinely without police

Safety for who? Most crisis calls pose no risk to responders. Sending police can be (and has been) unsafe for people in crisis. Over 200 programs in communities around North America, including Toronto and Ottawa, now send civilians to crisis calls...safety and effectively. Check out the link I sent

Only 11% wanted a co-response (eg, MMHCT). No one preferred a police-only response. Our province doesn't currently have non-police response options for crisis calls. That's a big problem

I recognize that a small proportion of mental health calls may need police presence. Their attendance to calls regardless of the need is quite harmful and can escalate situations resulting in death. A recent survey of people with lived experience in NS found 89% want a non-police response to crises.

Who said "always"?

I'm glad that it's worked for you. That's not the experience for many.

First, yes, it is a problem for many people who won't call for help when the police are involved. Second, there's no reason for police to be involved in the majority of crisis calls. Third, police are still attending the majority of mental health calls alone on HRM. See: www.justmentalhealth.ca