Including police in specialized mental health teams on Vancouver Island has reduced the risk of violence, without criminalizing those with with mental illness, an independent study suggests.
The IMPACT report, produced by University of Victoria professors and registered psychologists Erica Woodin and Catherine Costigan, focused on the integration of Victoria police officers with Island Health’s Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program.
ACT is a referral-based program that provides specialized team-based treatment involving psychologists, nurses and caseworkers and wraparound services to people with complex mental health and substance use disorders.
The integration of police into the program is “unusual,” Woodin said, but appears to have delivered benefits.
“Police integration on these mental health teams seems to promote safety for clients as well as staff in the wider community,” she said.
“We know a key reason this seems to help is that ACT officers get to know the clients and are able to adjust their responses based on what they know about what is in the best interest of the client’s wellbeing more than unknown patrol officers can.
“Also, clients reported it felt much more reassuring to interact with an officer they were familiar with, especially when they were in crisis.”
The Victoria Police Department has integrated dedicated officers with ACT teams since 2007. The department currently employs three officers specially assigned to the teams.
Get weekly health news
Const. Sony Govu, one of the current officers, said regular check-ins with ACT clients help build trust.
“There’s one client we see every … Thursday, and he used to have a lot of interactions (with police) and now he doesn’t, he barely has any interactions,” he said.
“And we go and spend ten minutes with him every week. It helps him. It helps him see people that he’s familiar with, people that give him like some rules and some structure. And it really helps.”>
The researchers analyzed police data and the criminal, medical and social support history of 448 ACT team clients between 2008 and 2019. They found a reduced risk of violent behaviours and criminal police encounters, particularly among racialized individuals and clients with a history of violence.
“Especially social disorder encounters such as public disturbances, fights and bylaw infractions. THe only type of police interactions that increased were mental health-related, so things like wellbeing checks,” Woodin said.
“Part of it could be that police are interpreting the behaviour through a mental health lens rather than through a criminal lens, even if the behaviour may be similar.”
Echo Kulpas, Island Heatlh’s manager for mental health and substance use and recovery services, said the ACT program focuses on some of the most challenging patients, people with significant barriers to accessing help including homelessness, advanced physical heath problems and social isolation.
“Usually by the time people come into our service, other intervention strategies have failed them and failed to adequately address the issues they are dealing with,” she said.
She said one of the teams’ key goals is building relationships with clients to help them regain their autonomy, but also to feel safe.
She added that some patients are living with severe mood disorders and psychotic symptoms that leave them feeling paranoid or persecuted. In those cases, having police officers present can increase their perception of safety, she said.
Victoria Police Chief Del Manak said he was pleased research had found including his members had a positive effect on the program’s work, and “highlights the importance of working together.”
“The interface between police and mental health calls will always exist: we know that where there is violence, threats of violence, weapons that are present or criminality, or even in some cases where there is an immediate threat to life where a patient of an individual is locked within their residence it does require a police response,” he said.
“What we want to do, though, is when the situation is safe, what is the earliest opportunity that police can take a back seat and let a mental health professional come forward.”
Woodin said the study could not say whether Victoria’s approach could be generalized to other ACT teams in B.C.
But she said it does suggest having police on board can be a helpful response.