Police officers shouldn’t lead mental health calls: Toronto Police Chief

Toronto Police are conducting a review of the Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams (MCITs) program where an officer and mental health nurse respond to calls involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis to determine the details of how they will “gradu­ally reduce our reli­ance on tra­di­tional mod­els like MCIT” to:

make room for alternative non-police response teams where police respond to violent and high-risk calls, while non-violent mental health calls are triaged to the Toronto Community Crisis Service

Nadine Ramadan, spokesperson for the police

I’m proposing that if mental health is a health issue, then mental health calls should be led by the health sector and the police should be there to the extent that it’s necessary for safety

Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw

The City of Toronto has 2 programs that respond to calls regarding mental health crises:

• Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams (MCITs) operated by Toronto Police Service
• Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCSS) overseen by the City of Toronto, operating as a city-endorsed emergency service in partnership with various community organizations

Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams (MCITs)

Established in 2000, Toronto Police’s Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams (MCITs) pairs officers with special training with a mental health nurse to respond to 911 emergency and police dispatch calls involving individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. When MCIT attends a call, they will, assess the person in crisis; and, connect the person to an appropriate follow-up service.

Toronto Community Crisis Service (TCSS)

Established on March 31, 2022 as a pilot program and launched city-wide on September 26, 2024, Toronto’s Community Crisis Service (TCCS) is as Toronto’s fourth emergency service and provides a non-police-led response to mental health crisis calls and wellness checks for residents available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are 12 mobile teams of two crisis workers. It can be accessed by calling 211 or as transferred from 911.

They don’t see or talk to people who have weapons (even if its a plastic knife), actively suicidal or under the age of 16. TCCS teams collaborate with MCITs when necessary.

Since 2022, it has responded to more than 38,000 calls, according to city data and of the calls transferred from 911, 78% of its 911 calls were handled without police involvement.

the majority of the calls that we get, we are able to resolve without the need for other emergency services

Dilya Neizova, acting manager for the city’s Alternative Safety Response Unit

Toronto Police Association says MCIT is a critical program, asks for proper consultations before removing it

“Why remove a tool from the toolbox?”

In a recent interview with CBC, TPA President Clayton Campbell reaffirmed the critical importance of the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT) program. As Toronto continues to face a growing mental health crisis, eliminating such a vital resource would be a serious disservice to the communities we serve.

We once again call on the Toronto Police Service and the Toronto Police Service Board to conduct proper consultations with the appropriate individuals—including municipal partners and our membership—before entirely removing this effective and invaluable program.

TPA on Facebook

MCIT nurses points out TCCS does not handle kids under 16

The nurses said those city-led teams do great work in the community but are not mandated to answer the types of calls — even non-violent ones — that they attend. For example, TCCS does not handle calls for kids under the age of 16, according to the service’s website.

The nurses described attending calls for children as young as six.

Toronto Star

It’s the lack of conversation, the lack of that partnership that we’re supposed to have between policing and the hospitals,

It kind of really hurts, because it’s like, ‘OK, you just made this decision, but you didn’t talk to anybody.

MCIT nurse