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Toronto Police expanding mobile crisis teams
by Faiza Amin and Jessica Bruno
Posted Apr 28, 2021 6:46 pm EDT
A Toronto police program that pairs officers with mental health nurses is expanding.
At a time some are questioning whether police should be the ones responding to mental health calls, changes are in the works for the mobile crisis intervention unit.
“The expansion is for the community and for the mental health community,” said Deputy Chief Peter Yuen, of the Toronto Police Service.
Last year, the mobile crisis intervention teams (MCIT) responded to 7,500 of the about 40,000 annual person-in-crisis calls. This year, the partnership between police and local hospitals will be available for more hours every day.