A proper response to mental health

Durham Regional Council recently instructed staff to look into the possibility of a non-police-led crisis response team.

With the world’s current state of affairs, police are being heavily scrutinized by not only the public, but also the governing bodies which fund them.

Due to the deaths of individuals such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the United States at the hands of police officers, the judgement and training of police have come into question.

While some have been calling for governments to defund the police, and essentially provide the organizations with less funding and find other avenues to do their job, Durham is looking at another method.

The non-police-led crisis response team, if approved, will consist of individuals who have training in mental health, de-escalation and more.

The team will cover all of Durham Region, and will ultimately take pressure off Durham’s police force.

This will benefit the region as incidents that have mental health components will receive a response from a team which has training in the proper de-escalation of these situations, and will have the proper resources at hand.

According to the motion presented by Ajax Mayor Shaun Collier and Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter, over a 90-day span this year, four people died during police wellness checks in Canada.

Durham Regional Police have also seen a 71 per cent increase in Mental Health Act apprehensions over the last four years.

While police in Durham are well trained, it is fair to say with situations involving mental health, especially as the number of incidents keep increasing, a specialist should be on scene to take the burden off the police.

While it has yet to be approved, such a team would not only ease the burden on Durham police, but would be a major win for the region.