A new response team is rolling out to help Vernon people in crisis.
Vernon has launched a Mobile Integrated Crisis Response team, formerly known as a “car” team. It’s staffed with mental-health professionals and police officers to help when policing alone is not the right choice.
“When people are in distress because of a mental-health emergency and they call police, we need to take the right steps to provide them with the care they need to stay safe and meet them where they are at,” said Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions.
“With the new Mobile, Integrated Crisis Response team in Vernon, people in crisis will be met with appropriate, compassionate and comprehensive care, and a clear path to the help they need, supporting them on their road to wellness.”
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The province said that one in five interactions with police involve someone with a mental-health disorder. It’s for this reason alone that police working alongside health-care workers who can provide immediate support and mental-health assessments to those in crisis is expected to strengthen community safety.
“When police officers work alongside mental-health experts, it best serves those who are in a moment of crisis or distress,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
“By combining front-line workers’ expertise, Vernon’s MICR team is strengthening the ability to respond to public-safety challenges, better protecting communities, while connecting people in crisis to the appropriate services they need, when they need them. This initiative is a crucial component of our ongoing efforts to create a safer, more inclusive province.”
Expanding MICR teams is part of the Province’s Safer Communities Action Plan. It has committed $3 million to launch MICR teams in nine communities throughout B.C: Vernon’s announced on Dec. 1, as well as teams upcoming on the Westshore and in Prince Rupert, Squamish and Penticton, and the recently launched Lower Mainland MICR teams operating in Coquitlam/Port Coquitlam, Burnaby, Abbotsford and Chilliwack.
Teams are already operating in Kamloops, Kelowna, Prince George, Fort St. John, Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, Nanaimo and Victoria, and on the North Shore.