Bashaw agencies that deal with individuals needing mental health supports are looking at ways to ensure no one gets left behind.
A community wellness group, made up of members from the Bashaw RCMP, Bashaw Adult Learning (BAL), Bashaw and District Support Services (BDSS) and Bashaw School are looking at ensuring there’s a referral system for people who need help.
The group met with residents during a community meeting at the Bashaw Community Centre recently.
Bashaw RCMP Sgt. Bruce Holliday told attendees that many of the people Mounties deal with have mental health needs.
Holliday says police seem to handle individuals with two types of mental health concerns: first, where a person is a danger to themselves or others.
“The second type of call is much more difficult to deal with. That’s the grey area,” said Holliday.
Holliday said some individuals have challenges where it’s not entirely clear that a person has a mental health issue.
This is when Holliday reached out to Alberta Health Services and mental health supports within the community to attempt to provide a service that these individuals need.
“What were were looking for is an organization or group that can provide wraparound services,” said Holliday.
The benefit of this system is that police can refer individuals to organizations without having to provide investigative data. In cases where that is needed, police would refer individuals to victim services, whose members already have background checks with RCMP.
The challenge for Bashaw, explained BAL coordinator Jackie Northey, is that not only is the community in a rural area, there are no mental health supports in town.
Alberta is resource rich, explained Northey, however, she feels there’s a real need for access to resources in the rural area.
To handle that, the wellness group has created a model that any community can take on. One of Bashaw’s unique challenges is that it has five different service municipalities to take on health, mental health and other support needs.
“What we want to do is outreach. In-community counselling,” said Northey, adding that folks would be able to speak with a counsellor in a library or other space.
The wellness group wants to add two components to the process: Information support and counselling - no matter what door a person walks in, all services are referred to the individual. The second component is referring the information to counsellors and advising on the best process.
The big challenge for Bashaw, one of the reasons for the wellness group, is there are about five municipalities that service Bashaw in a variety of ways.
Rural crime initiatives
Speaking to some of the RCMP initiatives to handle rural crime was RCMP Chief Supt. Shahin Mehdizadeh.
Overall crime has been on a downward trend, explained Mehdizadeh, however, it’s higher than what it was in 2012 and RCMP are working on ways to continue a downward trend.
“We’re not just working harder, but we’re working smarter,” said Mehdizadeh.
What RCMP have done is worked to investigate prolific criminals. Recently RCMP were able to charge and arrest 60 individuals who had 400 files against them.
Division working to help officers on the road
RCMP are working with officers who aren’t able to go in the field but can provide investigative support to Mounties who are able by making investigative phone calls.
Officers will make calls for minor issues and create the necessary files and data needed while the police who can go to a scene can handle more serious incidents.
Another initiative in Alberta is the PROS (Police Reporting and Occurrence System) Call Centre. Police can make use of the call centre and they can provide the information to dispatchers who will then create a police file.
It saves officers several hours from having to be in front of the computer.
“Those folks can take that information and put it on the system,” said Mehdizadeh, adding that at the end of the shift, police can review the information to ensure it is accurate.
Crime trend mapping
Mehdizadeh said the RCMP is working on providing Albertans access to crime trend-mapping.
This is intended to help residents know what’s going on in their area and allow them to be prepared.