Jonny Morris cautions that falling back on mental illness as a “catch\u002Dall” for why random acts of violence occur creates unwarranted stigma and may prevent…
“It’s really important in the current context, where there have been a number of violent incidents, to absolutely not immediately draw the conclusion that mental illness is a factor that needs to be thoroughly investigated and only then might there be a claim to be made,” he said.
Butler and former Vancouver deputy police chief Doug LePard co-authored a report for the provincial government last year examining prolific criminal offenders. Twenty per cent of police encounters with those who live with mental illness concerned violent crime, another 40 per cent was about non-violent crime and the remaining 40 per cent was for calls about behaviour unrelated to crime, the report said.Article content
“We’ve seen a really big increase in the number of people who are being detained, but for shorter periods of time, so people are getting these kind of short-term stabilizations and then immediately released, which is, we know, not helping them and in fact, it might actually be exacerbating their risk.”Article content
Such a service would offer “no wrong door” access to mental-health and substance-use care that accepts walk-ins, as well as people being transported by ambulance, fire and police, the report said.Article content He said the solution is threefold: provide access to affordable, safe housing; close care gaps that exist between early and late stages of mental illness; and provide civilian-led response for those in crisis.
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