Here's how Vancouver parties are planning to address mental health emergencies

A seagull takes flight off a statue of Captain George Vancouver outside Vancouver City Hall, on Saturday, January 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Promises to improve the way the city responds to mental health emergencies are laid out in the platforms of several parties with candidates vying for election in Vancouver this October.

Between January and June of 2022, the Vancouver Police Department was called to 2,131 incidents authorities classify as being related to mental health, according to quarterly data. That works out to an average of 12 per day. In the vast majority of those cases, someone ended up being apprehended under the Mental Health Act.

The issue is one that has come under increased scrutiny since the last municipal election, with questions about police involvement in "wellness checks" being raised by politicians and advocates in B.C. and beyond in the wake of high-profile cases in which officers responded with force.

Calls to "defund the police" and reallocate resources from law enforcement to social services and community interventions have become louder.

For its part, the VPD has been sounding the alarm about the increased pressure on officers to respond to emergency or crisis situations instead of crimes for years.

Back in 2016, then-chief Jim Chu spoke about the limits of a criminal justice response in these cases.

“The police are becoming the first point of contact for those who are severely mentally ill, and that is wrong. These people require health care, support, and medical treatment, not the criminal justice system,” he said.

Three parties – ABC Vancouver, Forward Vancouver, and OneCity – have made this issue a plank in their platforms. Here's what they say needs to be done, in alphabetical order by the party's name.

ABC Vancouver

The party is proposing a massive expansion of the VPD's Car 87/88 program. For decades, this service has responded to mental health calls by sending a two-person team pairing a police officer in plainclothes with a mental health nurse. However, the service is not available 24 hours a day and there are only two teams. In a news release announcing the campaign pledge, the party said Car 87/88 receives 200 calls for service each month.

ABC Vancouver has pledged to hire 100 new police officers and 100 additional mental health nurses in order to make the service available 24/7 and to significantly expand its reach. The party estimates the cost at $20 million.

Forward Together

The party is proposing diverting emergency calls related to mental health away from 911 entirely. The proposal is for a new service called the "Health and Addictions Response Team" that would be dispatched through the city's 311 system. The priority, according to a news release, would be responding to these situations with de-escalation and referral to services. Calling 911 is described as something these teams would do as a last resort.

These mobile teams would not include armed police officers and would be composed of homeless outreach staff, mental health and addictions counsellors, and municipal bylaw officers. The initial cost is estimated at $5 million.

OneCity

The party is proposing sending Peer Assisted Care Teams as first responders to calls involving mental health and substance use. This approach is being piloted in municipalities on the North Shore and pairs a mental health professional with a peer worker.

The approach of these teams would prioritize de-escalation and referral to supports and services. In addition to teams that can be dispatched on demand, OneCity is proposing others will work in partnership with well-established organizations on the Downtown Eastside.

The number of people hired and the budget required was not spelled out in the media release.