Running head: HEALTH POLICY ESSAY ASSIGNMENT PART A

Health Policy Essay Assignment Part A Dermot Connolly Stenberg College PSYN 204-3 K. Bagshaw July 2013

HEALTH POLICY ESSAY ASSIGNMENT PART A Health Policy Essay Assignment Part A

Police interactions with the mentally ill stem from their role as emergency responders and while statistics surrounding such interactions vary, they are on the rise. Over the past 30 years, mental health in BC has seen a shift from institutionalized care to community care which has resulted in the role of the police being expanded to facilitate increased interactions with the mentally ill. (Canadian Mental Health Association BC division 2005). Accompanying this transformation, reforms to policy and legislation have triggered the introduction of emergency procedures under section 28 of BC mental health Act which outlines the role of the police and their responsibilities towards the mentally ill. (British Columbia Ministry of Health 2005). Reforms to the act have served to clarify these responsibilities and introduce guides to help assist the police. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the factors that led to the creation of section 28 of the BC mental health act and its subsequent amendments in 2005. The focusing events that triggered its inception and its subsequent impact on policing models are also explored. In part b of this paper, section 28 is discussed and analyzed in greater detail with its merits, implications and drawbacks also being explored. Statistics surrounding the contact between the mentally ill and the police varies greatly from country to country. In the US for example, 7% of police calls involve situations with the mentally ill. In Australia, this number rises to 10% and in British Columbia, 25% of police calls involve the mentally ill. (Commission of public complaints against the RCMP 2010 para 10). The theories surrounding this increased contact is as varied as the statistics yet it is commonly believed that changes in common law, lack of funding for community based programs

HEALTH POLICY ESSAY ASSIGNMENT PART A and the deinstitutionalization of mental illness, have being significant contributing factors. (Commission of public complaints against the RCMP 2010). It could be argued that increased police contact with the mentally ill places a strain on the relationship between Canadas police force and the mental health sector. Yet this strain extends beyond both factions. Without the support and funding from other sectors such as social services to provide housing and psychosocial support, mental health programs such as deinstitutionalization fail to get off the ground. (Commission of public complaints against the RCMP 2010).

In the absence of such support services, a dangerous mental situation becomes difficult to define. On one side, the police argue that the mental health sector do not understand their interpretations of danger and on the other, the mental health professionals believe that the police cannot recognize a mentally ill patient. (Commission of public complaints against the RCMP 2010). This has resulted in the police having a less than sympathetic approach to mental illness. As they see it, the mental health sector is responsible for the breakdown in services, so why then does in fall on the police to fix it? (Commission of public complaints against the RCMP 2010). Like most members of society, the police have tended to view the mentally ill as unpredictable and dangerous. Police are trained to take control of potential hostile situations in a manner that is considered forceful. For a person with a mental illness, they may respond in kind, (Commission of public complaints against the RCMP 2010). In the past this has resulted in BC fatalities, such as the death of a hospitalized mentally ill patient in 2000 (Canadian Mental Health Association 2003), and the incomplete assessment and multiple arrest of a schizophrenic patient in 2003. (British Columbia Schizophrenia Society 2006). Examples such as these have helped justify the inception of section 28 of the BC mental Health act and its subsequent amendment in 2005.

HEALTH POLICY ESSAY ASSIGNMENT PART A Possibly one of the most significant effects section 28 has had on the BC mental health act is the switch from a more traditional method of policing to a more community based model. (Commission of public complaints against the RCMP 2010). Today, police are more familiar with mental illness than ever before and have developed a style of policing that serves to protect the vulnerable including people with disabilities. Case in point is demonstrated through the implementation of the crisis response models such as the Incident Management Intervention Model (IMIM) and the National use of Force Framework (NUFF). (Canadian Mental Health Association 2008). Changes in common law, lack of funding and deinstitutionalization have resulted in increased interactions between the Canadian police force and the mentally ill. Years of inadequate police training has resulted in the mentally ill being viewed as potentially dangerous

and unpredictable. This has culminated in a series of lethal interactions which have called for the introduction of changes in policing models and legislation in the form of section 28 of the BC Mental Health Act. Part b of this paper will focus on section 28 in more detail including recommendations for improvement and its effectiveness when compared to other provinces.

HEALTH POLICY ESSAY ASSIGNMENT PART A References: British Columbia Ministry of Health (2005). Guide to Mental Health Act 2005 Edition. British Columbia Schizophrenia Society (2006). Policy intervention in emergency psychiatric care. A blueprint for change. Retrieved from: http://www.bcss.org/wpcontent/uploads/2008/02/blueprint-for-change-summary.pdf Canadian Mental Health Association BC division (2005). Police and mental illness: Increased interactions. Retrieved from: http://2010.cmha.bc.ca/files/policesheets_all.pdf Canadian Mental Health Association (2008). Crisis intervention policy for police working with people with mental illness / concurrent disorders. Retrieved from: http://2010.cmha.bc.ca/files/policy_crisis_intervention.pdf Canadian Mental Health Association (2003). Study in blue and grey. Police interventions with people with mental illness: A review of challenges and responses. Retrieved from: http://www.cmha.bc.ca/files/policereport.pdf Commission of public complaints against the RCMP (2010). Policing persons with mental illness: Issues and trajectories. Retrieved from: http://www.cpc-cpp.gc.ca/cnt/tpsptmrs/mental/mental-traject-eng.aspx#toc3