Waterloo regional police discuss response to mental health calls at board meeting
Waterloo regional police discussed exploring responses to mental health calls at a Police Services Board meeting on Wednesday morning.
The current model was brought into focus on the heels of a police-involved shooting in Kitchener last month. Right now, police and mental health workers are paired up to respond to most mental health calls, but some calls slip through the cracks because those teams aren't always available.
The Integrated Mobile Police and Crisis Team, known as IMPACT, provides overage from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m., seven days a week.
Between April 1 and June 30 of this year, the team was dispatched 364 times and was unavailable to attend calls 13 per cent of the time.
Chief Bryan Larkin said that increasing that availability to 24 hours a day "isn't necessarily realistic and isn't necessarily needed." He referenced data showing when those calls occurred, and said police are looking at a system to help direct more calls to mental health professionals.
"One of the pieces we're very interested in and currently exploring is a triaging model that is tied to our communication, the PSAP, that would look at diverting mental health calls from any police response and would transition and push to the health-care system directly," Larkin said.
Larkin added police have a meeting scheduled with the Canadian Mental Health Association to discuss how that partnership can be enhanced going forward.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.