Officers receive Mental Health training

Port Alberni RCMP Inspector Eric Rochette says local officers underwent specialized training on dealing with mental health calls.

He said Port Alberni officers face a higher ratio of mental health related calls than most other detachments, and specialized training is the first stage in a process that could see RCMP adding specialized officers to the detachment.

“Within Port Alberni 9-10% of all calls for service have a mental health componant, so the numbers are high enough for us to start having conversations with the local health authority and any other stakeholders in relation to maybe creating a position specific to responding to mental health calls for service,” he said.

Local Doctor Shane Longman was part of the 2-day training program along with specialized officers from E-Division headquarters.

In 2020 local RCMP received more than 13,000 calls for service and more than 1100 of those were mental health related.

Rochette hopes to put a business case in front of his bosses to hire a support worker who can go on calls with officers.