SASKATOON --
An advocacy group hopes other Canadian cities will emulate Toronto’s upcoming pilot program to send trained civilians to mental health crises instead of police in some cases.
The strong push to avoid having police respond to these calls is being driven by high-profile incidents, such as the police killings of D'Andre Campbell in Brampton, Ont. and Sheffield Matthews in Montreal; as well as the death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet in Toronto.
Rachel Bromberg, co-founder of the Reach Out Response Network, is working with Toronto city staff to create a framework for a non-police, mental health crisis response service.