The Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team; a partnership between Hamilton Police Services and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton is once again proving its positive impact in Hamilton.

This year-old joint partnership pairs a specially trained patrol officer with a mental health worker to ride through Division 1 in a police cruiser for a single 12-hour shift each weekday.  Division 1, located in the lower level of the city, is where about 50 percent of mental health crisis calls occur making this the most effective location to initially focus this project.

On Monday, a report was presented to the Hamilton Police Services Board, proposing the project be expanded to four teams working from 2:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.; two to deliver service seven days a week in Division 1 and two teams to service the remainder of the city, also seven days a week. This project has left an impression on the Local Health Integration Network, which asked Jodi Younger, clinical director at St. Joe’s to submit a proposal to cover the whole city, as well as potentially “the entire region”.

Jodi Younger shared with the Board the positive impacts the project has made throughout the city.  These include an increase in initial assessments done in the field, a 40 percent decrease in the number of people being admitted to the Psychiatric Emergency Service (PES), as well as a 21 percent increase in program admittance, suggesting the people who are brought into PES are more likely to need attention. 

This program provides a proactive approach to both the Hamilton Police Services and healthcare in the city resulting in fewer calls to police, fewer people being taken into custody and more people being connected to services sooner.

The report also estimates an 85 percent reduction in police hours spent waiting in the Emergency Department (ED) with fewer cruisers parked out front of the ED entrance, and fewer uniformed police officers in the hospital leading to a reduction in mental illness related stigma.

More Information:

The Hamilton Spectator