Training police to better respond to people with mental illness

In 2013 alone, NSW police responded to more than 40,000 mental health incidents; while in Victoria, the police apprehend one person every two hours and take them to hospital for assessment. Surprisingly few police have the knowledge and skills to know how to deal with mentally ill people in crisis. In fact, fewer than 10% of frontline officers in New South Wales have had mental health training. It is the rare and tragic cases where mentally ill people cause serious harm to others or are themselves harmed or killed by police that receive media attention. But sadly, the police use force, including lethal force, against a disproportionate number of people suffering from a serious mental illness. So the recent announcement that New South Wales police will roll out a one-day intensive training program to assist all operational police officers to work with people with mental illness is most welcome.