Mental health crisis training will soon be mandatory for Quebec police
CTV
Next year, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) will launch a mandatory training program to help its police officers intervene more effectively when dealing with a person suffering from psychological distress.
The SQ hopes the training will reduce the number of interventions ending in a fatal outcome.
“The company want to change the police intervention model,” said Sergeant Dominique Éthier, a police force employment monitor who's involved in implementing the program. “Our approach is to prevent confrontation and then to ensure safety.”
The training will be mandatory for all police officers and new recruits.
Officers will be required to complete a four-hour online training course outlining stigma surrounding mental health and tools for building trusting relationships during police work. They will then have to complete two-day workshops, during which time they will be placed in intervention scenarios.
