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Bob Chiarelli proposes roster of health professionals to improve police responses to mental health calls

Mayoralty candidate Bob Chiarelli sat down with the Ottawa Citizen editorial board on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.
Mayoralty candidate Bob Chiarelli sat down with the Ottawa Citizen editorial board on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. Photo by Errol McGihon /Postmedia

Mayoral candidate Bob Chiarelli is proposing changes to the way the Ottawa Police Service handles mental health calls.

Chiarelli, who was Ottawa’s mayor previously from 2001 to 2006 and has served as a Liberal MPP in Queen’s Park, told this newspaper’s editorial board on Monday that he wanted the Royal Ottawa Hospital to partner with the police.

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“I believe we have not been well-served by the system when there are 911 wellness calls,” Chiarelli said. “The current situation needs to be significantly improved for the safety and security of both the police and the people who are involved in the dangerous situations that police are called in for.”

Chiarelli said his proposal would involve the creation of a group of mental health professionals who would attend emergency calls alongside police.

“I proposed that we created a partnership between the Ottawa Police Service and the Royal Ottawa Hospital whereby the ROH puts together a roster of perhaps 10 to 15 mental health professionals who can be called upon to join the police response,” he said. “The mental health professional(s) from the list (would be) available at the time of the call. We put on a vest to identify them clearly and go to the scene of the incident. Protocols would have been developed on how the team handles often dangerous situations.”

The OPS already has a mental health unit. It has existed for more than 20 years. Its officers work with mental health nurses from The Ottawa Hospital to attend homes where people are known to have had prior mental health emergencies. They link members of the public with community resources and support systems, during and following a crisis, according to the OPS. 

Asked about the feasibility of having mental health professionals available during a healthcare worker shortage, Chiarelli pointed to Toronto, which has already begun dispatching nurses and mental health professionals to some calls for people in crisis and said it has worked with the RCMP in a “city up north.” “It’s not creating new ground here. It’s been done,” he said.

Chiarelli said he had consulted with former police chiefs. “I mean this was done with some consultation and not just out of my hat,” he said.

The Royal Ottawa Hospital did not respond to a request for comment.

Abdirahman Abdi, a 37-year-old Somali Canadian with a history of mental health issues, died in 2016 after he was violently arrested by Ottawa police. His death drew calls for police to change the way police respond to calls involving mental illness and people in crisis.

The OPS responds to thousands of mental health calls each year, the according to a document delivered to the police board last year. The service had been developing a Mental Health Response Strategy in conjunction with mental healthcare and addictions professionals, and community-based organizations to improve outcomes for those with mental health problems.

Mayoral candidate Mark Sutcliffe has pledged to sit on the Ottawa Police Services Board and ensure every Ottawa region is represented on the board. But Chiarelli told this newspaper he wouldn’t sit on the board. “My sense is there should be some independence between the senior political person,” he said.