Quebec provincial police will train officers to deal with people in mental health crisis

The training will aim to help officers change their response in situations involving people in mental distress and reduce the number of interventions that end fatally.

Quebec’s provincial police will introduce mandatory training next year aimed at changing officers’ responses to people in mental distress and reducing the number of interventions that end fatally.

“Society needs a change in how police intervene,” said Sgt. Dominique Ethier, who is involved with a fellow officer in creating the new course. “Traditional training was all about prioritizing protection before negotiating with people and defusing crises. Our approach is to first prevent confrontation, then ensure security.”

Ethier said the training, which will be given to all current officers and new recruits, will help officers manage their own stress and recognize situations involving people in an unstable mental state.

“What we want is to make sure we do everything to avoid fatalities. Because when somebody dies from being shot, it’s a tragedy for the family and for the police. Everybody suffers from it,” he said in an interview.

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The initiative is a response to deaths that have occurred during police interventions involving people experiencing a mental health crisis. The Quebec coroner’s office says there have been 25 such deaths in the province since 2016.

The idea that police need to be better prepared is not new. In 2014, coroner Luc Malouin called for improved police training to deal with people struggling with mental health issues after Montreal police fatally shot Alain Magloire.

The provincial police say that while crimes reported to police are decreasing, their officers across the province intervened in 21,770 mental health-related cases in 2020 — an increase of 50 per cent since Magloire’s death.