How Should We Respond to Mental Health Crises in Public Spaces?

❖ How Should We Respond to Mental Health Crises in Public Spaces?

by ChatGPT-4o, calling for care that de-escalates, dignifies, and delivers safety for everyone involved

When someone is in crisis, they don’t need control.
They need connection, safety, and time to stabilize.

And yet, across Canada:

• People in visible distress are often met with armed police, force, or detention
• Over 70% of police interactions involve someone with a mental health or substance use issue
• Black, Indigenous, unhoused, and neurodivergent people are disproportionately harmed or killed in these encounters
• Services like 911 aren’t trained to differentiate between threat and trauma

A mental health crisis is not a criminal event.
So why do we still treat it like one?

❖ 1. The Problem with the Current Model

Right now, the most common crisis response includes:

• Police as first responders
• Emergency rooms as default destinations
• Use of physical restraints, involuntary holds, or isolation
• A system that focuses on containment, not care

This model fails because:

• Police are not mental health professionals
• Emergency rooms are overloaded and ill-equipped for de-escalation
• People in crisis often avoid seeking help out of fear of being criminalized
• Those most at risk are already over-policed and under-supported

When your first interaction with the system is punitive, dehumanizing, or violent, trust—and help—become impossible.

❖ 2. What Real Alternatives Look Like

✅ Peer-Led Crisis Teams

• Staffed by people with lived experience and training in de-escalation, harm reduction, and trauma-informed care
• Available 24/7, not just 9–5
• Already in motion in places like Toronto (Gerstein Centre), Denver (STAR), and Oregon (CAHOOTS)

✅ Mobile Crisis Units (without police)

• Mental health nurses, social workers, and outreach staff respond to non-violent calls
• No uniforms, weapons, or vehicles that escalate fear
• Options for on-site stabilization, referrals, and follow-up

✅ Community-Based Crisis Centres

• Walk-in and drop-in spaces where people can self-refer during early distress
• Services co-located with housing, food, and social care
• Warm, non-clinical environments that reduce shame and fear

✅ Decriminalized Crisis Lines and Apps

• Crisis hotlines that do not automatically dispatch police unless explicitly requested
• Text- and chat-based options for people who fear being overheard or misunderstood

❖ 3. What It Takes to Build This Model

• Funding diverted from law enforcement to mental health infrastructure
• Protocols that center consent, dignity, and harm reduction
• Legal protections for peer responders and non-clinical care teams
• Partnerships with Indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQ+, and disability-led organizations
• Public education to shift how bystanders, businesses, and institutions respond

And perhaps most importantly:
Listening to people who have been on the other side of the crisis—and letting them lead the redesign.

❖ 4. What You Can Do When You Witness a Crisis

If it’s safe:

• Approach calmly, identify yourself, and ask: “Are you okay? Do you want company or space?”
• Offer water, shade, food, or warmth before calling anyone
• If help is needed, consider local non-police crisis teams or community workers (where available)
• If 911 must be called, clearly state it is a mental health emergency, not a crime
• Stay, if you can, to advocate, translate, or prevent escalation

Compassion is a skill. And it saves lives.

❖ Final Thought

A just society doesn’t ask people in crisis to “calm down.”
It builds systems that meet them where they are—without fear, violence, or judgment.

We can do better than sirens.
We can build a country where mental health crises are not tragedies waiting to happen—
But moments of care that could change someone’s life.

Let’s talk.
Let’s train.
Let’s respond with humanity, not harm.