By Liam Verster

Front Line Mental Health Support

Peace River to be home to future Regional Police and Crisis Team

Jul 20, 2021 | 2:29 PM

Alberta RCMP is expanding it’s Regional Police and Crisis Team (RPACT) program over the next three years, and Peace River has been selected as one of the new base of operations.

RPACT involves officers working collaboratively with AHS and mental health professionals, mainly registered psychiatric nurses. These Mental Health Therapists, along with their RCMP partners, will respond to calls involving individuals in the midst of a mental health crisis to intervene, assess and stabilize the individuals.

Sgt. Colette Zazulak, who is in charge of Community Policing for the province, says officers are usually the first line of defence when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, however they’re not always prepared for what they will encounter .

“We don’t have that in-depth knowledge of mental health, it can often be difficult to know what to do with the person, whether they should be apprehended,” said Zazulak.

“Whereas with our partner there who has not only their health history, but also a lot of knowledge of mental health disorders, they can help stabilize them in the community, connect them to the services they need, or if they need apprehending help streamline that process.”

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The program also involves the officers and Mental Health therapists connecting with individuals who have been apprehended already, and connecting them with the supports and services available in the community to meet their needs, such as counseling or addiction treatments.

With the expansion of the program, Alberta RCMP will be establishing RPACTs at 14 detachments across the province. Most will operate like the one in Peace River, which will see the teams cover a lot of ground.

“Peace River’s (coverage) is going to include Peace Regional Detachment, Red Earth Creek, McLennan, High Prairie, Valleyview, Fairview, Spirit River, Beaverlodge, Faust and Manning,” says Zazulak. “So the team would work out of Peace River, start their day there, start their shift, and just be responding to requests from our members to follow up with people who they feel are unwell.”

Zazulak says the teams will respond to calls through the crisis line and from referrals from other RCMP members. She says while they will be mainly a mobile team trying to connect with people face to face, some work will need to be done over the phone if they are not able to make the commute between calls.

A version of the program, known as PACT, has been operating within the City of Grande Prairie for nearly a decade already. The program has been very successful, and Zazulak says a 2016 report by GPRC’s Dr. Connie Korpan on the program showed has a lot of financial benefits.

Zazulak says officers typically would take individuals suffering from a mental health illness to a hospital for a mental health assessment, which can be a drain on the system. However, having a Mental Health Therapist do an assessment on the scene means there is no additional burden on the health care system.

Zazulak says for every dollar spent on RPACT, three dollars is saved on the back end.

Though the plan is to have all 14 RPACT programs in operation within three years, Zazulak says it might be closer to two for the Peace River detachment. She says the work on the RCMP’s end is already complete there, and are waiting on AHS as they explore funding sources to back the Mental Health Therapist position.

Zazulak says, ideally, they will double the RPACT capacity to cover 24/7 coverage in the coming years, but this first stage will see the teams begin by operating eight hour shifts five days a week.