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Two community partnerships lead to an increase in Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams
at the Peterborough Police Service
PETERBOROUGH, Thursday, February 9, 2023: Peterborough Police Service now has three (3) Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams working in the communities of Peterborough, Lakefield and Cavan-Monaghan.
Two of the pairings are in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR) and the third is in partnership with Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
In each case a mental health worker, nurse or social worker is partnered with a Peterborough Police Service officer to respond to crisis incidents and to follow up on cases where their services may help.
“As a service we have been working extremely hard with our community partners to put the funding and people in place,” says Inspector Jamie Hartnett, Operations, Peterborough Police. “The Service understands and believes in the success these partnerships can have for our community. They are making a difference.”
“We are extremely grateful for the Partnership with Peterborough Police Services over the past 12 years through the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team. This model has proven successful and we are excited that the team is expanding to include more skilled community partners, like PRHC,” says Mark Graham, Chief Executive Officer with CMHA HKPR.
“Partnerships like these are absolutely vital, and we are so pleased to be working closely with Peterborough Police Service and CMHA to provide community-based care, when and where it is needed, for people who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Among many other important benefits, the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team model has been shown to reduce the number of patient visits to the hospital’s emergency department and crisis response unit,” says Sean Martin, Vice President, Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).
(Mental Health Nurse D. Forsyth (PRHC) ; Constable J. Rye; Constable J. Morris; Mental Health Worker M.Faught (CMHA); Mental Health Worker A. Swift (CMHA) ; Constable S. Leavitt)
MCIT Statistics:
- The first MCIT started as a CMHA-HKPR project in 2011 and an officer was added in 2018.
- In 2021 there were a total of 574 occurrences involving the MCIT.
- There was a 37% decrease in Mental Health Act apprehensions and arrests over 2020.
MCIT Background:
- MCIT began in 2011 with an outreach worker from the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR) working out of the Peterborough Police station doing ride-alongs with officers and attending mental health calls. The worker also did follow-up on mental health calls. In 2018 a police officer was added with the outreach worker and the MCIT Unit was born. The second unit is the result of City of Peterborough allocation of Peterborough Police budget surplus funds from 2021.
- Funding for PRHC partnership is available until March 31, 2023 and is the result of a provincial grant. This pairing has been in place since November 2022.
Media Contacts:
Peterborough Police Service
Sandra Dueck
sdueck@peterborough.ca
705-876-1122 x217
Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge
Caitlin Morris
cmorris@cmhahkpr.ca
905-706-0511
Peterborough Regional Health Centre
Michelene Ough
mough@prhc.on.ca
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