The Metropolitan Police Service was forced to spend around £70,000 answering a total of 8,655 calls made to the force last year by five people with mental health problems, newly published figures show.
According to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the Met receives a mental-health related phone call every four minutes, on average, says Sky News.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And the problem is by no means confined to the English capital. The Chief Constable of Lancashire Police recently said his officers were spending 20,000 response hours on mental health each month, reports The Independent.
HM inspector of constabulary Zoe Billingham is calling on other services to stop relying on the availability of police.
“Overstretched and all-too-often overwhelmed police officers can’t always respond appropriately, and people in mental health crisis don’t always get the help they need,“ she said, adding: “The police should be the last resort, not the first port of call.”
The increased demand for mental health respondents comes amid growing policing challenges posed by other crises including soaring knife crime and terrorism. Meanwhile, police funding cuts has seen officer numbers fall by around 20,000 since 2010.
A survey conducted by HMICFRS found that just 2% of respondents believed it was “the police’s responsibility to respond to mental health calls”, while 70% felt “it was the main responsibility of the health services to deal with”.
Dr Paul Lelliott, who leads the mental health division at the Care Quality Commission, told Sky News that while people may be tempted to call the police because they offer a fast response, “they must never be considered a substitute for expertly trained healthcare professionals”.
-
A rat infestation is spelling trouble for the almond industryThe Explainer The infestation has affected at least 100,000 acres in California
-
The 5 best singers turned actors of all timethe week recommends It's not often that someone is born with both of these rare skill sets
-
'This is exactly what technology should be doing'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The ethics behind facial recognition vans and policingThe Explainer The government is rolling out more live facial recognition technology across England
-
The Met police's stop and search overhaulThe Explainer More than 8,500 Londoners have helped put together a new charter for the controversial practice
-
NCHIs: the controversy over non-crime hate incidentsThe Explainer Is the policing of non-crime hate incidents an Orwellian outrage or an essential tool of modern law enforcement?
-
The new powers to stop stalking in the UKThe Explainer Updated guidance could help protect more victims, but public is losing trust in police and battered criminal justice system
-
'Warriors' vs 'guardians': the pitfalls of police recruit training in the USIN DEPTH American police training fails to keep pace with the increasingly complex realities that today's officers face
-
Nottingham attacks: was justice served?Talking Point Mother of victim says she was 'foolish to trust legal system' as killer Valdo Calocane is sent to high-security hospital
-
Derek Chauvin, killer of George Floyd, reportedly stabbed in prisonSpeed Read Chauvin was convicted of Floyd's murder in 2021
-
Nicola Bulley: police under fire for releasing personal informationSpeed Read Disclosure was 'avoidable and unnecessary' and led to 'breakdown of public confidence', College of Policing finds
