Monday July 17, 2023 | LANGFORD, BC [Updated August 10, 2023)
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
===== RELATED: RCMP office bitten on mental health call in west shore on August 9, 2023
The West Shore RCMP is establishing a Mental Health Unit which will pair Frontline Police Officers with Mental Health Clinicians.
The West Shore RCMP detachment serves the municipalities of Langford, Colwood, View Royal, Metchosin and Highlands.
On the heels of a province-wide announcement about mental unit units being launched in nine communities around BC, today a local announcement at the West Shore RCMP detachment was attended by Langford-Juan de Fuca MLA-elect Ravi Parmar, West Shore RCMP, and several west shore area mayors and councillors: Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson (and Councillors Kimberley Guiry and Colby Harder), Colwood Mayor Doug Kobayashi (and Councillors David Grove, Kim Jordison, and Misty Olsen), and Metchosin Mayor Marie-Térèse Little (and Councillors Shelly Donaldson and Shari Epp).
Parmar addressed the crowd with the overriding remark that “first responders keep our communities safe”. The MLA-elect said that people in these crisis intervention situations with police will be “met with care and compassion”. He noted that Mobile Integrated Crisis Response Teams were announced earlier in the day by Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside, at other locations in the province.
Assessment by these units can be done at the home of the person about whom the call has been generated. Clinicians in communication with Island Health (or doctors directly involved with the person’s situation) will determine best needs, and the RCMP will do their job as police officers, as required.
West shore collaboration:
Langford Mayor Goodmanson says the west shore mayors have been working collaboratively toward this goal. Metchosin Mayor Little said better “care and attention” will be taken during what are called “mental-health calls”. Colwood Mayor Kobayashi proudly said that this announcement shows the “power of what a region can do” when working together.
Today’s assembly of MLA-elect, mayors, councillors and others was preceded by an indoor chat with MLA Mitzi Dean (Esquimalt-Metchosin) who has carried the BC NDP banner for west shore collaboration with some additional focus since the October 2022 municipal elections. Dean didn’t stay for the formal presentation, letting the incoming MLA-elect take the spotlight.
Dean said in a news release earlier: “I’m pleased the West Shore RCMP are enthusiastically championing this initiative to make people in our community feel safer and work as a team with our fantastic mental health professionals.”
Municipalities have organized their budgets in recent months or years to accommodate the hiring of more police officers; it’s a component of increased municipal property taxes this year. The $375,000 announced by the province for the West Shore RCMP detachment is a one-year fund to help get the new unit up and running, explained Parmar and Rose.
Four-person unit:
“We are pleased to announce that the Province of BC and Island Health, has approved our request to provide clinicians to our Mental Health Unit at West Shore RCMP. The co-responding teams will bring police officers together with dedicated clinicians to assess individuals experiencing a mental health crisis,” said Inspector Stephen Rose, Officer in charge of Operations at West Shore RCMP.
The unit will be comprised of one Corporal and three Constables who will work together with Mental Health Clinicians from Island Health to respond to mental health related calls for service in West Shore. Active calls will be attended by three officers, Inspector Rose mentioned today at the live outdoor media session.
Three officers will attend a call, it was stated today.
When making an apprehension under the Mental Health Act, the law requires a police officer to take an individual to a designated medical facility for assessment by a medical doctor.
“Apprehensions under the Mental Health Act are only made when absolutely necessary for the safety of the individual and those around them,” says the West Shore RCMP in a news release today.
Growing need, but apprehensions could drop by 50%:
RCMP says the need for the unit has grown over the past five years. The West Shore RCMP has seen a 39% increase in mental health related calls for service from 1,163 calls in 2018 to 1,622 mental health related calls in 2022.
Today Inspector Rose told media that the number of apprehensions resulting from mental health calls are likely to be reduced to half. That is a significant change for those who are visited by police in their homes and for the workload of the RMCP (who sometimes wait for several hours at the hospital with a person who has been detained). Long waits also occur for parademics.
Currently, frontline police officers attend mental health calls for service and, after gathering all available information, determine whether or not the individual experiencing the mental health crisis will be apprehended under the Mental Health Act.
Frontline officers often make these decisions with little to no medical information as police do not have access to a patient’s medical records.
Assessments on the spot:
It was emphasized today that no medial information will be provided to police.
“A co-responding team will allow officers to work with medical professionals and exchange necessary information that is critical to determining the best course of action for the individual experiencing the mental health crisis,” says Cst Nancy Saggar, Media Relations Officer. in a new release earlier today.
“Our goal is to have a co-responding team triage an individual experiencing a mental health crisis in their own home and by utilizing the information shared by the clinician, the team can potentially reduce the number of mental health apprehensions. This will provide better patient care and treatment plans,” said West Shore RCMP in their news release this morning.
“This unit will serve all West Shore communities. We look forward to working with both the Province and Island Health to address mental health calls for service,” said Cst Saggar.
Less obvious appearance:
Today it was explained by the West Shore RCMP that when officers in the mental health unit show up they won’t be in a traditional on-the-street uniform but something less imposing while still being professional.
They also won’t drive marked vehicles or use a siren.
Inspector Rose called it interacting on “a low key basis”, recognizing that some people have experienced trauma as relates to law enforcement or cultural bias in that regard.
===== RELATED:
Langford council wades into RCMP school liaison (Island Social Trends – July 19, 2023)
Westshore RCMP news release about new Mental Health Unit (RCMP – July 17, 2023)
===== ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS:
Island Social Trends has been covering news of the west shore since 2008, through a series of publications: MapleLine Magazine (2008-2010), Sooke Voice News (2011-2013), West Shore Voice News (2014-2020) and Island Social Trends (mid-2020 to present).
The publications are the brain-child and passion of editor and publisher Mary P Brooke who covers regional news through a sociological and economic-political lens. | ABOUT ISLAND SOCIAL TRENDS | BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER