Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

psychiatric facilities is a considerable failing on the part of the healthcare system. This
protocol should set out a service time standard for transferring care, the information
that should be communicated, when restraints are to be used and how assessments are
to be conducted.
116. Some of the hospitals in Toronto that receive psychiatric patients in their
emergency departments commented that, at times, it seems that the TPS needs to better
educate its officers about the nature of their role under the Mental Health Act and the
authority of the hospital in conducting transfer of care assessments and procedures. An
issue that has been raised is that officers may require further education on their role in
the healthcare setting and on the importance of respecting the privacy inherent to the
physician-patient relationship.
117. Some community mental health organizations suggested that the TPS foster more
extensive partnerships with community mental health organizations, as the police,
mental health treatment, and community social services cannot effectively address the
needs of people in crisis while operating in silos. As noted in Chapter 3 (Context), the
forging of such partnerships was one of the three recommendations relating to
“emotionally disturbed persons” in the 1997 Use of Force Committee Final Report.
118. Several stakeholders recommended cross-sector training between the TPS,
mental health organizations and social service agencies to enhance mutual
understanding and coordination of roles. Several stakeholders also suggested that the
TPS needs to be more proactive in educating officers about the full range of mental
health resources at their disposal, especially in regard to community mental health
resources and other social services. Representatives from these organizations can come
to TPS divisions to speak to officers about what their organizations do, and how they can
work together.
119. Stakeholders from all sides of the issue, including some civil liberties
organizations, acknowledge that it is possible to find a solution to sharing healthcare
information with the police to help in situations involving a person in crisis while also
being respectful of that individual’s privacy rights. A key part of this solution should be
the development of a protocol that places clear limits on the circumstances under which
that information can be shared as between mental healthcare organizations and the
police, and also imposes clear limits on the use and further disclosure of that
information to other government agencies. Practices that involve further sharing of
healthcare information with other government agencies can have the effect of unduly
limiting the individual’s rights in other circumstances. For example, the Review has
learned that police-observed mental health information that is placed in police
databases can have the effect of limiting the individual’s mobility at times because it is
shared with Canada Border Services. Such widespread sharing of healthcare information
cannot be tolerated in any protocol developed to access healthcare information in order
to help people in crisis.
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