Skip to content

Delta police calling on province for more support for mental health

Police call on provincial government to increase resources to assist officers on front lines
jim cessford
Delta police Chief Jim Cessford says his officers are dealing with a steady increase in the number of calls involving mentally ill or drug addicted people.

The Delta Police Department has taken steps in the last few years to better deal with people with mental health issues, and now it would like to see the province do the same.

"We should not be the front line experts on mental health issues," Chief Jim Cessford said during a presentation to Delta council this week.

In 2008, the department partnered with Delta Mental Health to establish the Community Health Intervention Program (CHIP). The program formalized an already strong working relationship between the two agencies and developed an outreach service that sees a dedicated officer regularly liaise with a mental health staff member.

Const. Danny Simone is currently the department's only officer dedicated to dealing with people with mental health issues.

He works closely with a Delta Mental Health worker to provide outreach - home visits and follow up - to people who are emotionally disturbed or who are dealing with mental health issues that have come into contact with police. The visits are not in an enforcement capacity, but act as a service to the client.

"We strive to get out there in the community and see these people... and help them deal with their mental illness," Simone told council.

Simone is also available to offer assistance when other officers are dealing with someone with mental health issues.

The department has seen the number of calls involving mentally ill or drug addicted people increase over the years. Initially CHIP was expected to deal with between 10 and 15 high-risk individuals a year. In 2008, Simone saw 685 files, a number that grew to more than 800 last year.

Suicides and attempted suicides account for many of the calls. Between 2010 and 2012, Delta police attended 138 suicide attempts and of those all but one had prior contact with officers. One individual had more than 130 previous contacts with police. Being the only officer dedicated to mental health issues has left Simone stretched thin at times, Cessford said.

"There just aren't enough resources," Cessford said, adding there needs to be more doctors and psychiatric nurses available in the community to help people living with mental illness.

Earlier this fall, the Corporation of Delta had two resolutions endorsed at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention that asked the province to work with the federal government and municipalities to establish early intervention centres where patients with mental health and addiction issues can be safely housed if a doctor feels that someone may do harm to themselves or others; as well as investing resources to create an efficient intake process for mental health patients, including the provision of secure holding facilities and trained security personnel.

The Canadian Association of Police Boards also endorsed both resolutions this year.

"Not only are police departments under increasing strain in terms of staff resources dealing with the mentally ill, but the treatment of the mentally ill as criminals does not address the root causes of the problem," Cessford said in his report. "It is clear that these people need psychiatric treatment within a health care environment."

Mayor Lois Jackson has sent a letter, along with Cessford's report, to B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake requesting a meeting to discuss the issue.