The Canadian Mental Health Association says police should undergo standardized crisis training for dealing with the mentally ill, an inquiry into the use of Taser stun guns has been told.

"We certainly recognize that police in British Columbia, actually across North America, are increasingly first responders to mental-health crises," the association's Camia Weaver told the inquiry on Wednesday.

"There's no doubt they have become the front-line mental health workers in recent years."

It's the reason the association implored inquiry Commissioner Thomas Braidwood to convince police to talk more and use their Tasers less.

About 30 per cent of people enter the mental health system through police intervention, Weaver noted.

Yet Weaver said police undergo very little training on how to deal with the mentally ill or how to "de-escalate" a confrontation with someone who is in mental distress.

"We feel strongly that all police officers ... must have training in how to respond to the needs of someone in a mental health crisis," said Dr. Nancy Hall, a consultant with the mental health association.

The association recommended that standardized crisis training amounting to 40 hours be introduced for municipal and RCMP officers who are interested.

That's far more than the smattering few hours of mental illness training recruits get after attending the Justice Institute of B.C.

When it came to the use of Tasers, Hall said if police feel using the stun gun is absolutely necessary, the weapon should only be used once per person.

The association's final recommendation was a call for a much more "independent" study on the Taser.

"In the world of health care, doctors would not use technology based solely on the advice of the manufacturer," she said in reference to studies by Taser International that say the weapon is safe.

Hall said studies should be subjected to trials and should also look at the impact on people who survived being shocked by the conducted energy weapon.

The Taser Inquiry was called after the death of polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport last fall.