N.S. shooting report calls for police to be ‘secondary’ in public safety work

Halifax is working to determine what a civilian-led, mental-health crisis response could look like

Haley Ryan · CBC News

The report into Nova Scotia’s mass shooting echoes and validates what advocates, researchers and racialized people have said for years — police are often “not best trained or equipped” to deal with people in crisis.

The final report from the Mass Casualty Commission on the 2020 mass shooting examined the events of April 18 and 19 when 22 people were killed. It also explored red flags, policing issues and root causes of violence that led to the rampage.

Among dozens of recommendations, the commissioners found that police officers should be important partners in protecting public safety — but not at the centre.

“This conclusion is interrelated with our earlier recommendations about the need for public health approaches to violence prevention and the consequent need to decentre the criminal justice system as our primary response,” states the report.

“Police services will continue to have a vital role within this rebalanced public safety system but, in some ways, it will be a secondary one.”

Focus on changing response to mental health calls

In Nova Scotia specifically, the report recommends that the province establish a mental-health care model for urban and rural residents that includes crisis care, and eliminates the practice of “using police as the sole first responders to mental health calls.”

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It’s a very similar message as that in last year’s report on defunding the police in Halifax, put together by a subcommittee of the Halifax Board of Police Commissioners.

“We have been dying. We have not had calls answered in our communities. We have had domestic violence not be addressed … These are things that we’ve been screaming about for decades,” said El Jones, committee chair, advocate and educator.

“It’s good, I guess, in that sense that a wider part of society’s beginning to understand that. But at the same time, yes, you know, we also know that we have lost a lot of people across this country.”

El Jones is an advocate and author who co-chaired a committee that made recommendations for changing policing in Halifax. (Robert Short/CBC)

The report called on the federal government to subsidize the cost of such mental health services to at least the same proportion that it subsidizes the cost of policing in Nova Scotia.

Jones said she’s seen the conversation shift dramatically in Canada since the Black Lives Matter movement, and in the wake of wellness checks that turned fatal when police responded.

Even people who take issue with the term “defunding” police agree that something different must be done with mental-health calls, Jones said.

Mental health calls are on the rise

Police forces themselves have said they support that change, as officers often spend hours in hospitals due to  legislation requiring them to stay with people in a mental-health emergency.

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Halifax RCMP recently told the board of police commissioners such calls rose 70 per cent from 2014 and 2019 — and the trend persists. The Mounties reported 828 mental health calls in 2021, and 1,056 calls from January to November 2022.

In a recent budget presentation, the RCMP said that the city’s Mental Health Mobile Crisis Team is “not always available to rural resources,” and there’s a lack of alternatives for people having an emergency.

There is a 24/7 provincial mental-health emergency line, but for people in need of immediate physical intervention the mobile crisis team in Halifax is the only one of its kind in the province. It’s a partnership of the Nova Scotia Health Authority, the Halifax Regional Police, and the IWK Health Centre, with 12 health staff and four police officers.

Calls to the crisis line have increased steadily in recent years. NSHA numbers show that in 2018 there were 20,167 interventions of which 1,087 were mobile visits by the team, and in 2022 there were 26,778 calls with 856 in-person responses.

Jones said the current model, which includes police, was “cutting edge” when it launched in Halifax more than a decade ago, but evidence now shows many calls can be dealt with more safely by civilians only. Having officers involved could escalate a situation, Jones said, or could keep people from calling if they fear, for example, being criminalized if drugs are involved.

“I think it’s pretty clear some of the directions we need to go. And so that really shouldn’t be surprising to people, but perhaps seems surprising because so often these conversations are kind of labelled as extreme,” Jones said.

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How civilians can change mental health response

Jamie Livingston, a criminology professor at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, agreed. He studies this issue and said there are more than 180 communities around the world — mostly in North America — using civilian-led mental-health crisis teams.

Toronto launched pilots last year, while Prince Edward Island has had mobile units staffed by a paramedic and a mental health worker responding to calls around the province since 2021.

“I think Halifax is definitely ready for the change. It just takes leadership and resources to support the development of these programs … and then scaling them up afterwards,” Livingston said.

Livingston also said the MCC report’s recommendation to embed mental-health professionals in 911 dispatch centres is “necessary,” because it’s important to have someone assess calls and assign civilian teams or other community responders if appropriate.

Jamie Livingston, associate professor of criminology at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, says people in mental health crisis should have an option for a mobile response that doesn’t involve police. (Submitted by Jamie Livingston)

The report said centres should update operating procedures to reflect that mental-health service providers are the “more appropriate first responders” to mental health calls, but that police will be dispatched if the service provider states that’s necessary.

“Without that expertise, you may have someone sending things to the police because of the stereotypes around mental health issues — that people are dangerous, people are risky, civilians can’t do this,” Livingston said.

Heather Fairbairn, spokesperson for Nova Scotia’s Emergency Management Office, said in an email that the department is reviewing the recommendations that fall under its control, specifically 911, and “this work is a priority.”

Public safety adviser for Halifax, Amy Siciliano, said now that regional council has approved the city’s second Public Safety Strategy, her team — with Livingston’s help — is looking at exactly what a civilian-led crisis response could look like.

“It’s definitely a priority for me,” Siciliano said. “I’m really happy that I think this will be something that we’ll see in Halifax in the future.”

Amy Siciliano is public safety adviser for the Halifax Regional Municipality. (CBC)

When asked if the existing mobile team featuring police would be replaced, Siciliano said she couldn’t speculate — but in other cities it’s clear that a “layered approach” with various tools to deal with such complex issues is key.

“I think if anything we need multiple ways of addressing this issue so that we can get it right,” Siciliano said.

Siciliano said she was “really happy” to see the MCC’s report recommend federal and provincial legislation to create frameworks for community safety and well-being initiatives, including a focus on community input that would allow residents to weigh in on their needs.

“I think that having the weight of that report, and the significance of it behind the things that many community leaders have been saying for a long time … is hopefully a turning point,” she said.

The report said those frameworks should ensure information sharing between police, health care and non-profit agencies when possible, and all levels of government should make sure there’s “long-term public funding that puts crime prevention on an equal footing with enforcement of the criminal law.”

Stable funding would lead to ‘transformative change’

Siciliano said that if crime prevention — which could include anything from mental-health and gender-based violence resources to shelter beds — was funded like the “essential service” it is, “we would see transformative change.”

“I believe that 100 per cent because I’ve seen it happen. When we get small pockets of money, we can move mountains,” Siciliano said.

Other upcoming Halifax projects include a drop-in day centre for people dealing with homelessness, if the province contributes funding. A sobering centre where intoxicated people could go, rather than the holding cells at Gottingen Street police headquarters, will be coming “soon,” Siciliano said.

Peter McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the provincial Justice Department, said in an email that Premier Tim Houston has been clear the province is “committed to a comprehensive review of policing in Nova Scotia.”

McLaughlin said the province is carefully examining all the MCC’s recommendations, including those involving police response for those experiencing mental health crises.

“This work is a priority and will include how we engage with Nova Scotians,” McLaughlin said.

If you are experiencing distress or overwhelming emotions at any time, you can call the Nova Scotia Provincial Crisis Line 24/7 at 1-888-429-8167. The Nova Scotia Provincial Crisis Service can also provide contacts for other crisis services that are available if you live outside Nova Scotia.

If you or someone you know is struggling in any way, you can call 211 or visit 211.ca. 211 offers help 24 hours a day in more than one hundred languages and will be able to connect you directly to the right services for your needs.

The Kids Help Phone is a national helpline that provides confidential support at 1-800-668-6868 or Text CONNECT to 686868.

Additional supports for across Canada are available at www.wellnesstogether.ca.