54389 (2024). Ingrid Leary to the Minister of Police

54389 (2024). Ingrid Leary to the Minister of Police: Does the Minister agree with Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson that there's an urgent need to improve training for police in how to deal with someone who is in mental distress; if so, what, if anything, will he do to address this?

Hon Mark Mitchell: Police are increasingly attending incidents involving persons in mental distress where there is no criminal offending involved and people are vulnerable and not exhibiting violent behaviour. Police officers are not trained mental health professionals and will consult with Mental Health Crisis teams for specialist advice and support to assist with facilitating access to services where able. Police frequently reviews their training to ensure that it remains fit for purpose. This year, the Royal New Zealand Police College implemented enhancements to the Initial Training programme, including extending the programme from 16-20 weeks. These enhancements focussed on the main drivers of demand for the front line, of which mental health is one, allocating more time for recruits to embed and practice the key skills which they will use in district. The focus is on providing a person-centric response by understanding how police recognise, engage with and respond to people experiencing mental distress can have a significant impact on their recovery and wellbeing; and prevent harm. Our people are also equipped with legislative guidelines, a communication and de-escalation framework and tactical toolkit, along with operational resources. Police is responding to too many mental health events. As such the recent Police Mental Health Response Change was announced which intends to reduce Police’s response to mental health call outs where a police presence is not necessary. Alongside this is the 111 – five-year Cabinet paper where Police is looking to transition away from a Police 111 mental health response to a multi-agency response. Both of these significant pieces of work aim to readdress and reduce Police’s response to mental health events.