Peel police tout benefits of mental health crisis teams at safe cities conference

Over 400 delegates from police forces across North America have gathered at a hotel in Mississauga this week to discuss improving community safety — specifically, how to better handle mental health crisis calls.

The gathering comes as Peel police marks nearly five years of deploying Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Teams, which are made up of uniformed officers and crisis workers, to handle such calls. 

Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said there's value in having other police forces who implemented similar programs all gathered in the same space. 

"None of us is as smart as all of us," said Duraiappah Monday, the first day of the three-day conference his service is hosting.

"The reality is we're learning from each other in ways that transcend municipal, provincial, Canadian, international boundaries," Duraiappah said. 

This is the second year for the Safety of Our Cities Conference, previously held in Edmonton, and attended by social agencies, public health professionals and government officials, as well as police officers.

Speaking to the media as the conference kicked off, chiefs from multiple police forces attested to the success of their own crisis response systems, many of which were launched in the U.S. amid a national reckoning over police violence following the death of George Floyd. 

Albuquerque police Chief Harold Medina said redirecting crisis calls to trained professionals helped them reduce their officers' use of force. 

"When you look at the interactions they're able to de-escalate through their training and through their background and their expertise as opposed to our officers, it's a win-win," he said. 

Nashville police Chief John Drake said his force has seen similar benefits.

"What we're seeing is we can't do this alone," he said.

Peel police say they implemented their own program in a bid to better handle mental health related calls and refer people to community-based services, after seeing programs implemented by other Ontario police forces result in significant reductions in the number of apprehensions under the Mental Health Act.

The goal is to make sure people aren't criminalized for having a mental health crisis, said Sinthusha Panchalingam, senior clinical director with the Canadian Mental Health Association Peel-Dufferin, which responds to calls alongside Peel police. 

"Oftentimes, it's just taking a moment to listen to understand what their concerns are," she said.