OAKVILLE, Ont. -- Police in Halton Region say teams specially trained to deal with calls believed to involve mental health issues and crisis intervention have seen action 13 times in their first two days of operation.
Halton regional police partnered with St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton to develop a pilot project of four Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Teams that began patrols on Monday.
Sgt. Mark Dientsmann says the teams were called in six times on Monday and seven times on Tuesday.
The force says teams consisting of a registered health-care professional coupled with a specially trained uniformed officer join the regular platoon shifts each day, and are specifically available to respond to calls involving people in crisis.
The four officers selected as part of the one-year project have a background in mental health response and have experience working with the Halton force's crisis outreach and support team.
The mental health workers are two registered nurses and two social workers with extensive previous mental health experience.
The four teams are currently receiving further crisis intervention training with a focus on risk assessment, and will be trained to know when to intervene, as well as how to de-escalate and how to control a situation.
The teams will be trained to defuse or de-escalate crisis situations, advocate for the person and families in crisis, ensure mental health assessments are completed and will be equipped to provide resources, help and support for everyone involved.
The teams will work seven days a week and will be dispatched to mental health calls throughout Halton Region.
"Front line officers are responding to mental health crisis calls on an increasing basis," deputy chief Nishan Duraiappah said Wednesday in a release.
"Partnering with health-care professionals is a progressive approach to providing timely and quality service to those struggling with mental health," Duraiappah said.
