Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

Network Training program of recorded materials, live panel discussions, and tests. The
sergeants who run the discussion and test portions receive training in basic facilitation
skills. Several programs offered on platoon training days have involved skills for dealing
with people in crisis, such as dispelling mental health myths, indicators of mental
illness, de-escalation approaches, community resources, and updates on the Mental
Health Act.
30. Platoons also have the opportunity to discuss current service and safety issues
during shorter, more frequent sessions held at the beginning of some shifts. In what are
described as Roll Call sessions, the platoon supervisor will make a short presentation,
followed by a guided discussion period and the distribution of resource materials.
Several sessions have addressed issues concerning people in crisis, such as field
assessments under the Mental Health Act, community resources for people who are not
subject to apprehension under the Mental Health Act, instruction on how to secure a
scene while awaiting the Emergency Task Force, and protocols surrounding firearms at
crisis calls.
II. Overview of Issues Highlighted by Stakeholders
31. Although many of the submissions made to the Review suggested that revisions
or additions to training are needed, several individuals and organizations from multiple
perspectives acknowledged that the current educational curriculum for TPS officers is
sophisticated. In particular, the mental health training offered by the TPC has been
praised because it is informed by inquest recommendations, mental health
professionals, and people (both officers and subjects) with lived experience of mental
illness.
32. The Review received copies of many recent coroners’ inquest recommendations,
substantially all of which recommended more training, or more specific training. The
Review heard that additional recruit and in-service training days would allow the TPS to
provide more in-depth education on mental health issues, communications techniques,
and non-lethal responses to assaultive behaviour. More fundamentally, however, some
organizations suggested that a profession so essential to public safety needs a
substantially longer training period, akin to the university education and apprenticeship
periods required of doctors, nurses, accountants, and other professionals. In contrast,
other stakeholders suggest it is not necessary to lengthen training, but that current
programming can be improved.
33. A number of stakeholders acknowledged that increased training would require a
significant investment in resources, with returns difficult to measure in isolation from
various other factors discussed in this Report, such as culture, supervision, officer
wellness, and community mental health resources. This is not to say that training cannot
be refined or that existing recommendations for improvement should not be
implemented. Nor does this acknowledgement dismiss the views of those who suggest
that the resources required to increase training would be recouped if changes resulted in
fewer deaths, in turn lowering the need for investigations, inquests, and reviews.
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