The Met Police is to reduce the number of mental health calls officers attend in London as part of an initiative with the NHS. The Right Care Right Person strategy aims to tackle the amount of time officers spend policing mental health.
Officers will not attend cases where help from a medical professional would be more appropriate, the Met said. They will continue to attend callouts if a person is at risk of serious harm, NHS London added.
Full story: Met Police to attend fewer mental health calls – BBC News
This article is very similar to one I commented on about a team in Durham, NC that is doing the exact same thing. I think it’s amazing that other places are implementing programs like these to take mental health calls off the hands of officers and to better assist those in need. I also wanted to see the similarities and differences between the two groups. As I read in the article, the main concern is the pace at which all of these changes are being made. Will the people assisting the mentally ill have the correct training? Where is the funding coming for this program?
Hey Jordan, that is a good point you bring up about training. The correct training is very important for these mental health calls. Hopefully, there will be a certain required training. As far as timing goes this is also very important. It doesn’t need to be rushed to a point where it is not done properly and there needs to be time for the correct training. At the same time, it shouldn’t be an extremely slow process or it may never get done. Lastly, funding is a good question where would this funding come from? For those who wanted to defund the police, this could be done by reallocating the funds that would be used for officers who had to take these calls before this system was put in place. Although that might not be enough funding to cover everything it is a start.
Hi Laci! To continue the conversation about training for this specific team, I also want to bring up the safety aspect. Will this team be armed in a way? I feel like it is a bit controversial to arm people that do not have police training, but for safety reasons, is it a good idea? There has been multiple horror stories of social workers, police officers, and even mental health professionals being attacked on call. If these people are even volunteers for things like this, do they know how to deescalate at all, and what to do if they are attacked?