Mental Health and Addiction Strategy

It is with great pride that I present the Peel Regional Police Mental Health and Addiction Strategy.

This strategy is the result of significant collaboration between members of our organization and many community partners that are invested in supporting the mental health and well-being of residents in Peel Region. It outlines a shared commitment to ensure that residents have access to effective, timely mental health and addiction resources when they need them most.

This first version of our Mental Health and Addiction Strategy is a living document that will continue to evolve through ongoing engagement with our partners and our communities and is part of our commitment to being the most progressive, innovative and inclusive police service in Canada.

As we move from planning to implementation, we are committed to an agile approach and will continue to adopt new strategies and initiatives in response to changing community needs.

As a police service, we are routinely called upon as the first point of contact for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. While we recognize that we have an important role, our primary goal is to connect people to the programs and services best suited to meet their needs. We have identified several steps to work collaboratively with our partners to achieve this objective by leveraging existing programs and exploring new and innovative approaches through this strategy. Our strategy also outlines ways in which we will build the capacity of our members to supportively engage with individuals struggling with their mental health or addiction and ensure that we are making evidence-based and data-driven decisions.

More broadly, this strategy is aligned with a fundamental shift within our service to integrate and operationalize the Provincial Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) Framework (see page six) as a key driver for our service. At its core, this means that we will identify opportunities to work further upstream, build multi-sector partnerships, and recognize that people in crisis, our human service system and our community as a whole are better served when we work in a more coordinated, integrated and person-centred manner.

I want to thank the nearly 20 community organizations and the many members of our service who contributed their time, expertise and experience to inform this strategy. Through continued collaboration, I am confident that we will realize our collective vision of providing superior, sustainable, and inclusive services to those affected by mental health and addiction now and into the future.

Nishan Duraiappah
Chief, Peel Regional Police

Mental health and addiction are complex issues that require a community approach. Peel Regional Police would like to thank the following partners for their contribution to this strategy and continued commitment to work together to meet the needs of the residents of Peel. 

To work collaboratively with all stakeholders to develop superior, sustainable and barrier-free services for those impacted by mental health and addiction in Peel.

Together we are committed to strengthen and adapt programming to meet community needs and ensure that individuals living with struggles associated with mental health and addiction have access to the right supports at the right time.

As a Service, we will build on the success of existing partnerships, including our Mobile Crisis Rapid Response (MCRRT) and Crisis Outreach and Support Teams (COAST). Explore opportunities to redirect mental health and addiction-related service calls to community service providers, and, embrace technology-enabled solutions to enhance our response.

Our goal is to achieve the best possible community outcomes and ensure that we leverage our resources most effectively.

Ensuring the well-being of our members is an essential priority for Peel Regional Police. To effectively respond to the needs of the community, it is critical that we, as emergency responders, focus on our wellness.

As a starting point, this means continuing to take steps to reduce stigma associated with mental health and addiction and ensuring that our members, leadership and the organization as a whole, commit to fostering a culture of mutual care and respect.

Building on the work of our Wellness Bureau and other initiatives including our emergent Cultural Plan Wellness App, we will take all necessary actions to make sure that our members receive the appropriate supports to safeguard and strengthen their mental health, well-being and resilience.

Peel Regional Police recognizes the importance of ensuring that all sworn and civilian members have access to training and educational opportunities to increase addiction and mental health knowledge to strengthen how we respond to individuals in crisis. This includes expanding our awareness of community programs and resources to connect more people in need of help to services that support life stabilization and maintain well-being.

Through ongoing collaboration with our Working Group, we will identify gaps in our knowledge base and explore opportunities to co-construct timely, relevant and effective mental health and addiction education to our members and the broader community.

Peel Regional Police commits to ensuring that this mental health and addiction strategy remains current and reflective of what best serves our community in addition to the well-being of our employees. Maintaining collaborative working relationships with our community partners will always be vital.

Peel Regional Police will continue to build on existing relationships with the organizations that assisted in the development of this strategy. This will provide multiple opportunities to ensure that leading and innovative practices are implemented to best assist those impacted by mental health and addiction.

Peel Regional Police will develop and leverage academic partnerships and research to better understand and improve the efficacy of mental health and addiction interventions. As a key first step, we are actively engaged in a research partnership with York University and EveryMind Mental Health Services.

Academic partnerships are part of a broader approach to enhance how we collect, analyze and build a data-driven view of mental health and addiction in Peel. This will include establishing and monitoring key metrics and regularly evaluating our programs and initiatives to ensure we are on track and achieving our intended outcomes.