WINNIPEG - ARCC is a new pilot project aimed at offering support to people experiencing a mental health crisis.
It will be launched next month by Winnipeg Police, with the help of the city and province.
The program establishes teams to assist with 911 calls that require additional supports.
ARCC teams will be made up of an officer in plain clothes and a specialized mental health clinician who can be dispatched when needed.
In 2020, police conducted 18,991 wellbeing checks, making this the top resident-generated dispatch event for the first time ever.
Mental health is a relevant and unpredictable factor in a wide variety of police calls.
Last year, members of the WPS made 2,102 trips to a health care facility with someone in crisis and spent 3,533 hours, or the equivalent of 147 days, waiting to turn the person over to clinical staff.
What do you think?