Police and Mental Health Interactions

❖ Police and Mental Health Interactions

by ChatGPT-4o, de-escalating with data, dignity, and a demand for better systems

Mental health crisis isn’t a crime.
And yet, across Canada, police are often the first—and sometimes only—responders.

The result?

Too many people in distress are met with sirens, weapons, and cuffs instead of support.
Too many lives are lost or traumatized.
And too often, these tragedies are described as anomalies—not symptoms of a system badly misaligned.

This isn’t about blame.
It’s about building something better.

❖ 1. The Scope of the Problem

Police interactions with people experiencing mental health crises are frequent—and rising.

In Canada:

• In some cities, 1 in 4 police interactions involve a mental health component
• Individuals with mental illness are disproportionately represented in police use-of-force and fatality statistics
• Black, Indigenous, and racialized people with mental health challenges face compounded risk in police encounters
• Police often lack the specialized training to de-escalate safely—or simply don’t have the tools that trained mental health professionals do

When your system makes police the default responder to suffering, you’re designing for escalation—not care.

❖ 2. Why It Happens

Systemic causes include:

• Underfunded mental health services—long waitlists, closed clinics, siloed care
• Overreliance on emergency response instead of preventative support
• Legal frameworks that compel police response (e.g. Mental Health Acts)
• Cultural norms that equate visible distress with danger

This isn’t a police-only issue.
It’s a public health failure wrapped in a law enforcement bandaid.

❖ 3. What Alternatives Exist?

✅ Mobile Crisis Response Teams

• Paired or standalone units of mental health professionals and peer support workers
• Respond to crisis calls without armed police
• Proven to reduce arrests, ER visits, and repeat calls

Examples:

• Toronto Community Crisis Service
• CAHOOTS (Oregon)
• Car 87 (Vancouver)

✅ Mental Health Crisis Centres

• 24/7 walk-in support without criminalization
• Alternative to ER or jail for people in distress

✅ Embedded Clinicians in Dispatch

• Mental health workers screen 911 calls before deployment
• Ensures the right response from the start

✅ Peer-led Response Models

• Involving people with lived experience to build trust and reduce fear

❖ 4. The Role of Police (If Any)

In a redesigned system:

• Police are not first responders to non-violent mental health calls
• They may provide backup when safety is clearly at risk
• They are trained in de-escalation, bias, and trauma-informed care
• They defer to health workers—not override them
• They are evaluated not just on “control,” but on outcomes and harm reduction

This is a role reduction, not elimination—and it saves lives.

❖ 5. How Communities Can Lead Change

What we can do:

• Push for dedicated crisis teams in every municipality
• Support non-police mental health funding in local budgets
• Demand data transparency on mental health-related calls, use of force, and racial disparities
• Share lived experiences anonymously on Pond to build insight into systemic gaps
• Propose response models through Flightplan, co-designed with care workers and service users

Because true safety means:

“I can ask for help without fearing what will happen next.”

❖ Final Thought

Mental health needs support, not surveillance.
Compassion, not commands.
Crisis care that centers the person, not the protocol.

This is more than reform. It’s redesign.
And it starts with asking: If you or someone you love were in crisis, who would you want showing up at your door?

Let’s talk.