Penticton and Vernon policing changes ‘not a silver bullet’ but big improvement

With one in five calls to the Mounties now involving someone in a mental-health crisis, the need for more nuanced help on the front lines of policing has been well established.

This fall, that help should start to fall into place in both Vernon and Penticton, where newly funded mobile integrated crisis response teams are expected to start up.

These teams, similar to ones already operating in larger centres like Kelowna, will see a mental-health professional, like a psychiatric nurse or social worker, accompanying an RCMP officer to calls where mental-health issues need to be addressed, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jennifer Whiteside explained on Wednesday.

Not only will it assist police in navigating territory they’re not equipped to be in, it will ensure those in need are properly cared for.

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“I think what we’ll see on the other side of this, the individual who is receiving the care and support, will be a very trauma-informed approach that will ensure that that individual gets the kind of sort of health care the assessment that they need,” Whiteside said.

Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield said his council has realized that there’s a changing landscape of crime and when the need arose, blindly hiring more RCMP officers did not appear to be the best option and they advocated to get this “tool” in their kit.

“This is not the silver bullet that’s going to solve the problem but it is a vital tool that we’re going to be putting in the toolbox to deal with the problems that people are facing,”  Bloomfield said.

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With the program, commonly known as the Car 40, he’s hoping to see a reduction in overdose deaths and a reduction in crime.

“All of these things, I think, go hand in hand and I think that I’m working towards having a healthier community,” he said.

In Vernon, the RCMP are also welcoming additional help.

“These co-ordinated teams will be a welcome addition to our frontline policing operations and will greatly assist us in responding to mental health-related calls for service,” Const. Chris Terleski said in a statement.

“Pairing frontline officers with mental health clinicians from Interior Health provides officers with a greater range of tools, resources, and options, currently not available to them when assisting a person in crisis.  Through this co-response, the team will effectively be able to triage persons experiencing a mental health crisis right in the community and allow them to develop solutions and care plans for the person, with the overall goal of reducing the number of apprehensions.”

Terleski said it will take some time for the role to take shape, with both the clinician and officer positions needing to be filled through their respective staffing processes.

“Here in the Vernon North Okanagan detachment, two officers will be selected for the unit and we are working with Interior Health on a plan to have availability seven days a week,” he said. “We’re hopeful to have the team operational in the next three to six months, but that is a very early estimate at this point and could change depending on a number of things. ”

The two Okanagan communities are not the only ones benefitting. The province announced nine communities would divvy up $3 million of funding earlier in the week.

In the Fraser Valley, where the program has operated for more than a decade, nurses on the front lines say they use trauma-informed care to de-escalate what can be highly tense situations.