Peterborough Police Service now has three (3) Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams working in the communities of Peterborough, Lakefield and Cavan-Monaghan.
Two of the pairings are in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (CMHA HKPR) and the third is in partnership with Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
In each case a mental health worker, nurse or social worker is partnered with a Peterborough Police Service officer to respond to crisis incidents and to follow up on cases where their services may help.
“As a service we have been working extremely hard with our community partners to put the funding and people in place,” says Inspector Jamie Hartnett, Operations, Peterborough Police. “The Service understands and believes in the success these partnerships can have for our community. They are making a difference.”
“We are extremely grateful for the Partnership with Peterborough Police Services over the past 12 years through the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team. This model has proven successful and we are excited that the team is expanding to include more skilled community partners, like PRHC,” says Mark Graham, Chief Executive Officer with CMHA HKPR.
“Partnerships like these are absolutely vital, and we are so pleased to be working closely with Peterborough Police Service and CMHA to provide community-based care, when and where it is needed, for people who are experiencing a mental health crisis. Among many other important benefits, the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team model has been shown to reduce the number of patient visits to the hospital’s emergency department and crisis response unit,” says Sean Martin, Vice President, Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC).
