Interior Health and RCMP expand joint crisis and mental health response teams

Interior Health and the RCMP have announced the expansion and rebranding of joint crisis response teams in Kamloops and Kelowna. 

Formerly known as Car 40 and the Police and Crisis Team (PACT), the Integrated Crisis Response Team will pair a front-line RCMP officer and trained mental health worker to respond to mental health and addictions emergencies, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., 12 hours a day, seven days a week. 

Health and police agencies hope the specialized, expanded, integrated program will de-escalate potentially dangerous incidents and redirect those in crisis away from the criminal system.

“When people are in crisis because of mental illness or addictions challenges, we want them to be met with care,” said Sheila Malcolmson, B.C.’s minister of mental health and addictions.

“Expanding the successful [teams] in Kamloops and Kelowna will support more people in distress and connect them to help and health care.”

Susan Brown, the CEO of Interior Health, says new psychiatric nurses will be hired and trained as part of the expanded program. Funding will come from the agency’s global budget. 

Staffing levels and the daylight hours of operation are based on an analysis of current emergency call data and will be monitored to ensure needs are met.

Currently, one IH nurse is available in each city. Kelowna is staffed with four RCMP officers and Kamloops two.

The expansion will see three nurses in each city. Kamloops will add a third RCMP officer to the team, while Kelowna’s will remain at four. RCMP and city politicians have been calling for an expansion of the service for some time.

Emergency response calls escalating

“Unfortunately, our mental health calls for service and mental health apprehensions in the southeast district continue to increase.  The statistics demonstrate how important this work is,” said Chief Superintendent Brad Haugli, the RCMP’s southeast district commander.

Haugli says emergency operators handled 17,484 calls for crisis intervention in 2021, a 16 percent increase since 2019.

Regional RCMP detachments made 3,248 crisis-related apprehensions last year, a 21 percent increase since 2019. 

An Interior Health-RCMP joint committee will continue to meet to look at crisis response services across the region, including those in smaller jurisdictions.

Penticton and Vernon city councils have called for the program to be set up in other cities. Brown says that would require more study and consultation. 

“As we get more rural, this particular model may not be the right model,” said the Interior Health CEO.

Cities welcome expansion

The newly elected mayors of Kamloops and Kelowna, who campaigned on public safety issues, welcomed Thursday’s announcement. 

“We know that RCMP continue to face mounting mental health-related calls,” said Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas.

“Having professionals with the necessary training to deal with mental illness will help people in our community who are experiencing a mental health crisis.”

This is a great step forward,” echoed Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson.

“I know residents of Kamloops will be happy to hear about the expansion of this crisis response service as we continue to see many people struggling with mental health and substance use issues on our streets.”