Police are increasingly responding to reports of community members experiencing a mental health crisis, and will now undertake further training to be better equipped to handle the situations.
Police have acted as first responders to a growing number of mental health incidents in recent years. For uniform members, it is one of the most common call-outs and accounts for at least half of an officer's shift.
According to the interim report from the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System, Victoria Police responded to 43,000 events relating to a 'psychiatric crisis' or a 'suicide attempt or threat' in the year 2017-18.
That equates to responding to a mental health call every 12 minutes.
This is why all frontline Victoria Police officers will receive an additional two days of in-depth, mandatory training dedicated to assisting people who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
Trials were conducted in Ballarat, Shepparton, Mernda, Moorabbin and Melbourne East last year, with the Police Responding in Mental Health Events (PRIME) Training to be delivered at all police stations across the state from July.
The training will be co-delivered by a police officer and a mental health clinician and will take place during two consecutive days.
It was developed through consultation with people with lived experience of mental health issues, and by their family and carers.
While crisis presentations to emergency departments have almost doubled since 2008, which the interim report says is due to "the flow on effect of system failures", so too has the involvement of ambulance and police services.
While police do not provide mental health services directly, they are part of the broader system which responds to mental-health related requests for assistance following a triple zero call.
During the past decade, there has been a substantial increase in the number of people presenting to emergency departments with mental health issues.
In a submission to the Royal Commission, Ballarat Health Services said there were high levels of psychological distress and self-harm across the region, while mental health services were struggling to provide for patients living in more remote areas.
Despite the city having one of the highest male suicide rates in the state and with residents having more mental health issues than the state average, access to public acute mental health beds is among the lowest in Victoria.
This shortage is forecast to worsen as the population grows.
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While mental health education is a part of basic police training, the newly developed program will build on the training given to recruits in order to equip frontline police with specialised communication techniques to effectively address the needs of people experiencing mental health issues when they come into contact with police.
The training will involve demonstrations, simulations, practical exercises and problem-based learning, supported by videos and interviews with people who have experienced mental health issues or who have a family member who has.
The region's superintendent, Jenny Wilson, said it was very important for police to continue to evolve the knowledge and response to mental health issues within the community.
She said mental health incidents and suicides were an issue for police across the region - from responding to minor mental health issues, to a person not coping well to having to apprehend a person under section 351 of the Mental Health Act 2014.
This involves conveying someone to be assessed in a hospital, which can sometimes take hours.
Superintendent Wilson said the timing of the training being rolled out was "perfect", due to issues - such as the effect the economic downturn and unemployment was having on mental health and playing in domestic violence - as a result of COVID-19.
The training is envisaged to help police to better manage the increasing number of situations involving people experiencing mental health issues.
Superintendent Wilson said while police would not become expert medical practitioners, it was about evolving their training as mental health call-outs are a large part of their work.
"If you've got a fire, you call the fire brigade, if someone is injured you call an ambulance but if there is a problem someone can't solve they call the police.
"We're actually a problem solver of a variety of issues - a jack of all trades."
Superintendent Wilson said frontline police were often new recruits, who may not have experienced a person having a mental health episode before.
"It can be a very frightening situation and for police is very risky, because with the adrenaline pumping through the individual, they are a lot stronger than they normally are. It can become quite a dangerous situation."
She said a situation could often escalate when police arrived, as the person having an episode could experience heightened anxiety. So for police to learn new techniques to de-escalate such a situation was vital - to reduce the associated harm to the individual, police and the wider community.
Superintendent Wilson said it would be beneficial for police to hear from people with experience of mental illness, to understand what it feels like to be in the other person's shoes.
"I think it's really good to hear the perspective of the person impacted. I think that we make lots of presumptions around people's behaviour without understanding that for the person that's actually involved in an episode, it's actually a very frightening experience.
Getting an understanding about what drives some of those behaviours that occur - that we might perceive as being violent or as irrational - gives us more opportunity to deescalate the scenario without causing harm.Superintendent Jenny Wilson
"Getting an understanding about what drives some of those behaviours that occur - that we might perceive as being violent or as irrational - gives us more opportunity to deescalate the scenario without causing harm."
Superintendent Wilson said the changing face of drug use, such as ice and other synthetic drugs, also played a part in the increase of mental health call-outs.
"Modern day drugs that are full of various chemicals really do cause significant harm."
The training will also cover the effects of stigma, bias and stereotyping and the importance of connection with family and friends, as well as the options available within the mental health system.
Superintendent Wilson said it was important for people to be kind, compassionate and to look out for each other.
She urged people to engage early with loved ones if they were showing signs that they were struggling mentally, so any issues could be mitigated at the early stages before escalating into a crisis.
"It's important for people to look out for each other. What's really important for me is to normalise and not stigmatise mental health."
Ballarat police have a valued relationship with Ballarat Health Services.
Seeking help in Ballarat:
The Grampians Mental Health Service through Ballarat Health Services can assist people experiencing a mental health crisis in Ballarat and surrounds. The first point of contact is with the Psychiatric Triage team and calls from emergency services are prioritised.
Calls are answered by mental health professionals, with an assessment of the urgency of the response made.
Mental health professionals - from each of the Adult Community Mental Health Centres at Ballarat, Ararat and Horsham - are rostered to respond to referrals from the Psychiatric Triage team to provide mental health support to people in their homes. Often emergency services such as police and ambulance staff attend, to ensure everybody is safe.
This service response is available up to 10pm each day. After this, there is a Mental Health Professional based in the Ballarat Health Services Emergency Department to provide mental health support while the East Grampians Urgent Care Centre at Ararat and the Horsham Hospital Emergency Department have access to an on-call Mental Health Professional who can attend these sites as required to provide mental health support.
The PRIME training was funded by the Victorian Government through the 2017/2018 state budget.
The psychiatric triage service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the following number - 1300 661 323. If you or someone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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