A new integrated mobile crisis response team in Saint John responded to an average of eight calls per day during its first few weeks in operation.
Chief Stephan Drolet of the Saint John Police Force provided an update on the pilot project during Tuesday’s meeting of the Saint John Police Commission.
The pilot project between the police force and Horizon Health sees trained mental health professionals and an officer attend crisis calls and wellness checks together.
Drolet said the team responded to more than 870 calls between its launch date on Oct. 19 and the end of January.
“I knew there was a need for it, [former] chief [Bruce] Connell knew there was a need for it, Minister [Dorothy] Shephard knew there was a need for it,” Drolet told the commission. “I knew that when there’s a need and you offer the service, calls are going to start coming in.”
Saint John has had a mobile crisis response team for just over 20 years but this is the first time the team includes officers from the city’s police force.
The team consists of three registered nurses employed by Horizon Health and two police constables, who have been seconded to Horizon for three years.
When a call is received, either through 911 or the 1-888 mobile crisis unit number, a nurse will attend along with a plain-clothes officer in an unmarked car.
Drolet said having police and registered nurses work together has been a win-win for everyone involved.
“We’re not as trained as they are to deal with mental health crisis but we’re often involved in them,” he said. “I guess it’s a force multiplier. We get their expertise to assist us and vice versa. They go to calls where they wouldn’t go before and then we’re there to assist them.”
“These are calls where we jointly respond to make sure the person in crisis has the best outcome possible.”
The team is currently staffed from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily seven days a week. Horizon Health has signed a memorandum of understanding with Chimo Helpline to take the calls outside of those hours.
Drolet said he hopes the program will expand even further in the future.
“It’s all about funding, it’s about creating the environment to have it,” he said. “We’ve got to be careful, too, because we don’t have an infinite amount of police officers. I’ve said in the past we are fully deployed.”
The Department of Health has earmarked $900,000 for this pilot project over a three-year period.
