RCMP looks to expand its crisis teams to avoid violent conflicts during mental health calls

The call came in close tothe end of RCMP Const. Lorri Kokkola's shift on acold,cloudy day in Red Deer, Alta.

"He has some delusions right now that are very real. They've escalated," said the woman on the other end.

"His comment was, 'Somebody's gotta f---ing die before anyone believes me. So I have to kill myself.'"

Kokkola headedto the man's apartment, but she wasn't alone. Riding shotgun was John Obelienius, a psychiatric nurse with more than a decade of experience.

She andObelieniusmake upwhat's known as a PACT a police and crisisteam.Kokkola entered the man's apartment firstbutObelieniusendedup doing most of the talking.

Inside, they found a young man deep in the coils of paranoia, rattling off conspiracy theories. His legs shooknervously as he lay back on his living room couch.

"So last night, you made a decision to hurt somebody," said Obelienius.

"I did," the man responded.

The young man toldObelieniusthat he hadn't been sleeping or eating, that he knewhe was slipping.

"Just be honest with the suicide stuff, too, right?"Obelieniustoldhim. "If you start feeling like you're losing grip, you can call."

WATCH |The RCMP's shifting approach to mental health calls

The RCMPs shifting approach to mental health calls

2 years ago

Duration 2:32

Some RCMP divisions are trying a new way of responding to mental health calls, pairing an officer with a psychiatric nurse. In Red Deer, Alta., that's resulted in fewer apprehensions and trips to the hospital.

They talked for more than 10 minutes.Obelienius and Kokkolaleftwith a warning making threats can get you intotrouble and a promise to check in after a few days.

And that wasit. No trip to a crammed hospital ER or a police cell. Just a quiet chat and a conflict avoided.

"Police before, because they didn't have the mental health training or access to a professional beside them, nine out of every 10 police calls would get apprehended and brought to hospital," said Obelienius.

"Now I think we're down to probably one out of every 10, right? That clinical expertise is able to help us avoid apprehension.

"When you go to be a psych nurse, who ever thought you'd be working with law enforcement or with the police in crisis, and trying to help individuals right in the moment of their mental health needs?"

When they're on duty they alternate day and night shifts weekly with another PACT Obelienius and Kokkola respond to calls involving mental health issues. Sometimes they're simple someone calling inbecausethey haven't heard from a loved one in a while.

"Then we'll get the extreme ones where they're actually screaming or they have a knife, they're locked in the bathroom, they've cut themselves," said Kokkola.

The PACTmodel has been in operation in Red Deer for about 10 years. Now,the RCMPwantsto replicate the model acrossAlberta.

"It is the future, I believe, truly. We have to modernize," said Supt. Mike McCauley,in charge of outreach for the Alberta RCMP.

The push for more PACT-type units comes asrecent high-profile cases ofpolice officershurtingor killing individuals experiencing mental health crises are driving calls for changes to the way police reactto mental illness.

A community in North Vancouver is still reelingafter a 27-year-oldwas shot and killed by policelast month. Dani Cooper was experiencing an episode of psychosis at the time.

That same month, a B.C. Mountie pleaded guiltyto assaulting a nursing student during a wellness check back in January 2020.

Last year, a coroner's inquest jury ruled a New Brunswick man's death in a police shooting in 2020was a homicide, and called for more policetraining on responding tomental health calls.

Rodney Levi, of the Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation on the Miramichi River, was shot twice in the chest by RCMP Const. Scott Hait outside the residence of a church pastor on June 12, 2020.

Michelaine Lahaie, chair of Civilian Review and Complaints Commission, the RCMP's oversight agency, has said she's seen multiple cases of officers deploying"unreasonable use of force" during mental health wellness calls.

"Police are not always the best people to deal with mental health calls for service. However, there is a safety concern that makes it so it's imperative that we're there," said McCauley.

"At the end of the day, we don't apologize for having to do enforcement at times. And sometimes mental health calls do lead to criminality, or the point where we have to intervene as police officers. But where we can avoid that, obviously, we want to."

'We are overwhelmed'

Safe Harbour, a shelter in Red Deer, often leans on the PACT teams as itstruggles with a growing numberof clients struggling with addiction and mental health issues.

"We are overwhelmed. The hospitals are overwhelmed, the RCMP are overwhelmed. Everyone's overwhelmed with need," said executive director Kath Hoffman.

"If we had our druthers, [the PACT teams would]be here all the time."

But not everyone is convinced the PACT model isa perfect solution.

Jennifer Chambers is executive director of the Empowerment Council,a Toronto-based non-profit that works with users of mental health and addiction services. She saidresponse teams that pair police with mental health professionalscan help to prevent violent confrontations but they still involve risk.

"Police are sometimes excellent at de-escalating situations, but there is that possibility of use of force, including lethal force," she said.

"Something that rarely gets considered when talking about alternatives to police is that the mental health system also uses force. They restrain people and they do it with racial bias. So it's not actually an exact solution to use of force."

Chambers said she'd like to see more public funding go towardaddressingthe root causes of addiction and mental illness.

"Then you have more prevention of the crisis and less likelihood that the crisis is going to escalate," she said.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital, said the evidence on whether mobile crisis intervention teams (MCITs) such as PACTs are able to prevent escalation or minimize injuries is limited so far.

In a 2020 report, CAMH said that "an evaluation of Toronto's MCITs found that injuries occurred in only two per centof interactions and that they were usually minor and self-inflicted.

"It is also uncertain whether or not MCITs are able to reduce hospitalizations (and whether or not this is actually a shortcoming if people who need hospitalization actually receive it), though MCITs are more likely to bring people with mental illness to hospital voluntarily than regular police units."

Police and crisis teams aren't offered everywhere

InAlberta, theRCMP is able to roll out more PACT teams with support from municipalities andAlberta Health Services, the province's health authority.

It's a model both the RCMP and theMental Health Commission of Canada wantto see expandedacross the country.

But setting up integrated mental health teams in Mountie territory outside Albertawould requireprovincial and municipal support.

"Mobile mental health resources are not available in all jurisdictions, leaving RCMP members to deal with these calls otherwise unsupported in the vast majority of cases," said RCMP spokesperson Robin Percival.

"The RCMP, like other police agencies, is very supportive of a collaborative approach for mental health clients, and for individuals experiencing symptoms of distress or addictions."

The RCMP detachments in Kelowna, B.C. and the Moncton area of New Brunswick also operate integrated mental health teams. But the piecemeal nature of the units' staffing and availabilityacross the country means someone dealing with addiction ormental health problems can't be certain a health-care worker will accompany police on a call.

In New Brunswick, for example, teams integrating RCMP officers and health workers are offered in somebut not all districts. And even in places that have PACT teams, limited resources meanthe teams aren't always staffed 24 hours.

Back in Red Deer, after wrapping up one call,Kokkola and Obelienius droveto the new apartment of an 18-year-old client who left an abusive home and ended up in the local shelter system.

Kokkola and Obelieniustook the young manto hospital just a few weeks ago aftergetting a reportthat he was suicidal. When they checked up on him againweeks later, he had his own place and job he likes, wastaking his medication and wasworking to complete hishigh school credits. He wants to start training as an EMT.

"Big changes. That's awesome," Kokkolasaid, beaming.

After a short visit, it was back to the cruiserand the road forKokkola and Obelienius.Scanner on, always ready for that next call for help.