Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

of people in crisis from TPS to the hospital. These protocols attempt to reduce wait
times and distribute the volume of patients brought to each facility so that available
resources can be used most efficiently. It is hoped that, by standardizing emergency
department transfer of care procedures along the lines of the model used at Mount Sinai
Hospital, officers will limit their current practice of taking a majority of people in crisis
to a small number of psychiatric facilities. The TPS and the psychiatric facilities alike
would benefit from greater cooperation and communication in assessing how best to
distribute people in crisis between facilities so that people can be brought to facilities
with available resources.
87. The Human Services and Justice Coordinating Committee Ontario, discussed
below, has published a guide on strategies for implementing effective emergency
department protocols for interacting with police. This guide is a valuable resource to be
considered alongside the best practices of Mount Sinai Hospital and St. Joseph’s
Healthcare Hamilton. 75 Among other things, the HSJCC Ontario recommends:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
providing cross-sectoral training for police officers and hospital staff about
mental health apprehensions;
officers calling ahead to the emergency department when en route with a
person in crisis to allow the emergency department to begin to make
necessary preparations;
arranging a “quiet room” or other waiting area for police-accompanied
visitors to the emergency department;
having adequate staff to manage mental health crisis situations in the
emergency department;
designating a liaison in the emergency department to work with police
officers when they arrive with a person in crisis;
establishing a written agreement between police services and hospitals
that sets out specific procedures, expectations, and respect for patient
rights, including privacy rights; and
conducting routine monitoring and evaluation of the protocols put in
place, and making any changes warranted. 76
88. I did hear of an approach adopted in one TPS division under which MCIT units
that bring a person in crisis to the emergency department are relieved from waiting with
that individual by another officer at the request of the Staff Sergeant. While this
75
HSJCC, “Effective Protocols”, supra note 4.
76
Id. at 8.
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