In The News
Local police take the time to learn about mental health
Goderich Signal-Star (December 1, 2014)
“Keynote speaker, Sarah Burtenshaw, also talked about the close partnerships developing between Canada's police and mental health professionals including the challenges and benefits of this growing trend.”
Hamilton police bring mental health workers along to frontlines
Canada AM/CTVNews.ca (April 13, 2015)
“Officers in the program also receive 40 hours of specialized mental health training, including crisis intervention, suicide intervention and assistance training, De Caire said.”
Mental health issues a priority for OPP, new commissioner says
Toronto Star (July 13, 2014)
““We are not trying to make them psychiatrists in blue. We are just trying to give them some more information so that they will be able to identify somebody if they are in a mental health crisis. In this training, we really stress the de-escalation portion of it,” she [Judy Alton] said, noting the program includes scenarios.”
Hamilton police send mental health pros to the front lines with cops
CBC News (April 8, 2015)
“All of the officers assigned to the new unit have received 40 hours of training, which includes training on understanding mental illness, methods of deescalating situations, perspectives from family members, scenarios for role-playing and community resources.”
Providing police with tools for mental health response
St. Marys Journal Argus (December 1, 2015)
“So it’s good to know that, over the past five years, almost 225 officers with four distinct police services in Huron and Perth Counties have received mental health and addictions intervention training through the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance and specialized Hamilton-based facilitator Sarah Burtenshaw.”