Interventions for Mentally Ill Individuals under Law P-38 (Details)

Name of province/ territory:

Quebec

City/ Region:

L’Assomption/Saint-Sulpice

Description of Initiative:

The project involves providing a location for workers within the police station. This initiative started in 2004, and since then crisis management workers from the Lanaudière health and social services agency intervene with police officers from our service to apply Law P-38. These specialists have their office in our police station (evenings/nights/weekends) and intervene at our request to evaluate individuals in crisis who may pose a danger to themselves or others.

Initiative Key Objectives:

Work in close collaboration with police officers and intervene more quickly.

Section Responsible for Implementation:

Police management

Key Contact:

Normand Desjardins
ndesjardins@ville.lassomption.qc.ca

Groups/ Agencies/ Key Partners Involved:

  • other government departments/agencies

Level of Involvement (consultative - information sharing) and/or cooperative - direct involvement):

Cooperative

Amount of Time Initiative has been in Place:

Since 2005.

Reason for Undertaking the Initiative:

N/A

Resources Required to Implement this Initiative:

N/A

Method of Implementation:

Pilot project

Key Outcomes of the Initiative:

We have met the key objective—reducing time police officers spend on interventions.

It is difficult to put a number on the savings, but we can say that we average around 50 to 60 P-38 interventions per year. Each call required the presence of two police officers and took an average of two hours. Since the workers have been located on our premises, they are at the site within 30 minutes, which allows us to free up the police officers more quickly. There is also less transport to hospitals because in many cases the workers are able to defuse the crisis.

Community safety has improved significantly due to the speed of the response by qualified individuals who are able to take control of the various situations.

Availability of a Communication Strategy:

No

Key Messages used to Publicize the Initiative:

N/A

Forms of Evaluation by which the Initiative will be Assessed:

  • N/A

Evaluation Completed or Community Feedback Received:

Yes

Summary of the Outcomes:

N/A

Summary of the Performance Measure Data Collected:

N/A

Economics of Policing Pillars:

Further Details:

Given that P-38 workers are co-located on our premises, the speed with which they can intervene with our citizens has considerably improved service to our community.

Additional Comments or Suggestions:

N/A

Record Entry Date:

2013-08-01

Date modified: