MHPS responded to 111 mental health calls in May

By GILLIAN SLADE on July 11, 2020.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade

In May police responded to 111 mental health calls for service.

Whether police are the best people to respond to such calls has recently provoked national and international discussion.

Insp. Brent Secondiak says Medicine Hat Police Service is also having that conversation.

“I think there’s a lot of experts in the field, on both the police side and mental health side, looking for solutions to the issue,” said Secondiak.

It could mean having more mental health experts available to attend calls or providing additional training to police so that they are better equipped to respond to those calls.

Secondiak says different models are emerging across North America and MHPS is open to making changes.

“Our priority when we are making these calls is safety, so it is public safety and safety of the person,” said Secondiak.

MHPS is aware that the public may perceive that the presence of police at a home where there has been a mental health call for service may be more than is necessary. Secondiak says the public may not be aware of all the circumstances.

“They are often very complex, very dynamic and the people we deal with in these calls are in a crisis state and a lot of intervention has to go on to diffuse the situation and get them to professionals at the hospital,” said Secondiak.

A quarterly report to the police commission reveals details of some of those calls.

In February police responded to a call where a woman who “believed someone was in her home with a gun.” She was partially naked and on the neighbour’s property. Police determined she was showing signs of “excited delirium.” A search of her home determined that there was nobody in her house and no signs of forced entry. EMS attended and sedated the woman before taking her to hospital.

Secondiak says there are calls “all the time” where there is an altered sense of reality.

In April, police responded to an apartment where a tenant, that was to be evicted, was threatening to destroy the suite and harm other tenants. After some time, that included him removing all his clothes, he was finally arrested and transported to hospital where he was sedated.

Another incident involved a male on the balcony of a fourth floor apartment. Secondiak says he was in crisis and threatening to jump. It was a high risk situation for police and the individual. He was known to police and there had been violence in the past.

Secondiak says those 111 mental health calls in May was not unusual.

“We have about 1,300 mental health calls for service every year,” said Secondiak.

Often people believe the presence of police at a home means a crime is taking place but that is not always the case, he said.

Changing that perception would help to remove the stigma and potential embarrassment.

“Having mental issues is not a crime. Being homeless is not a crime,” said Secondiak. “Our goal is to reduce that stigma and fear against police.”