Updated
Wednesday, 5th May 2021, 11:54 am
Call handler Kieran Salisbury is among those responding to emergency calls about mental health (BBC Newsnight)
Bedfordshire Police allowed BBC Newsnight to follow the force’s mental health street triage (MHST) team as well as the force s contact centre.
The news reel showcases the pressures facing local policing amid a rise in calls to help people who need mental health care.
The number of police call outs over a serious risk of suicide rose from just one in January 2020 to 79 in April 2020; and to 289 in March 2021 – around nine incidents every day.
Separately, overall police incidents with a mental health tag increased from 586 in January 2020 to 838 in March.