Police, Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service partner to provide alternative for mental health calls

The Saskatoon Police Service is partnering with the Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service to offer an alternative to police responding to mental health calls.

The partnership creates a “Mental Health and Suicide Intervention Call Transfer Protocol” for Saskatoon Mobile Crisis.

When a caller contacts police to report a personal crisis, which may require mental health or suicide intervention, call-takers have the ability to transfer the call to mobile crisis.

The call protocol officially began earlier this month.

Deputy Chief Mitch Yuzdepski said there are a limited amount of support services in the community open at all times. When services are not available, the default agency is almost always the police.

“Based on the available research both locally and nationally, the pervasiveness of mental health embedded in many police calls for service is grossly underestimated,” Yuzdepski said in a news release. “Despite this, the will of the Saskatoon Police Service for positive change has never been stronger.

“In Saskatoon, this includes the diversion of some mental health calls to the SCIS’s Mobile Crisis Service and the expansion of the number of police and crisis teams.”

Saskatoon police call-takers must confirm a number of things before transferring each and every call:

• Making sure the situation is not emergent in nature;
• Confirming there is no presence of weapons or any actions which may endanger the caller or members of the public;
• The caller is not reporting self-harm or harm to others;
• No criminal act has been implied or committed;
• The situation does not include indications of domestic/intimate partner dispute, and there is no immediate need for medical attention.
• The call taker will require permission from the caller before they are able to transfer the call. If refused, police will process the call.

Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service executive director Rita Field said the organization is pleased to see the enhanced call transfer partnership become a reality.

“This focus on mental health and matching service to need, builds on the strength of our collaborative working relationship that has been effective for many decades,” she said in the news release.

The Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service-Mobile Crisis Service is a non-profit organization that responds to crisis calls at any hour and any day of the year. Mobile crisis workers can respond on the phone, in the community, or in the office to the full range of crisis situations including mental health, suicide prevention and families in distress.

“In this case, police considered what is already working well and chose mobile crisis service. This protocol is straightforward and effective. It works for police, it works for our crisis service to respond and above all, it works for individuals and families in need of immediate support,” Field added.

The protocol is expected to remain in effect indefinitely.