Police-Encounters-With-People-In-Crisis

21. I make a number of recommendations below about how to achieve these forms of
leadership.
F. Collaborative relationships
22. Policing and mental health is a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary issue.
Collaborative relationships with other organizations are essential in order to address all
aspects of the issue. Relationships with hospitals are important to ensure efficient
delivery of services to people in crisis, and effective education of police. Relationships
with those with lived experience of mental illness are needed to ensure mutual
understanding and respect, and mutual support. Relationships with academic specialists
are important, to ensure that the police benefit from the best thinking and the most
complete information. Recommendations are therefore made below dealing with the
formation and fostering of such collaborative relationships.
G. Resource sensitivity
23. Like all public institutions, the TPS has significant resource constraints, of which
I am acutely aware. Implementation must be pragmatic, recognizing the limitations
imposed by the scarcity of available monetary and human resources. I have sought to
make recommendations that are within the realm of the possible from a resource
perspective. However, it is likely that all of the recommendations in the Report may not
be able to be implemented simultaneously under current resource constraints, and that
the challenging decisions mentioned above relating to prioritization may need to be
made, or the TPS may consider ways of implementing a recommendation that reflect its
substance but consume less resources. The recommendations below recognize the need
for prioritization and staging of the implementation work.
24. At the same time, it is important to recognize that the addition of targeted new
expenditures may result in a net reduction in the overall strain on police resources. For
example, expenses incurred in order to achieve better coordination with the mental
health system may result in resource benefits such as reduced hospital wait times,
shared initiatives such as the MCIT program, and better information for police officers
about the most efficient handling of crisis calls.
25. What must also be considered is the staggering cost, both personal and financial,
when a person in crisis is killed by police. The personal costs have been discussed above
and of course are of paramount importance. Budgetary constraints cannot be treated as
more important than lives. At the same time, there are financial costs that arise from the
use of lethal force that should not be ignored. Our society spends huge amounts on SIU
investigations, inquests, criminal proceedings, civil proceedings, mental health care
costs and other expenses associated with fatal shootings. Those who make decisions
about funding for police initiatives such as those recommended in this Report must
consider this side of the financial coin.
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