Police’s Phase Approach to Attending Lesser Mental Health Callouts w/ The University of Waikato’s Sarah Gordon: 4 November, 2024

The Police have announced a new phased approach to attending lesser mental health-related callouts, that are not of high risk or are related to crime, with the next phase aimed at handing over these responsibilities to health staff.

The first phase is beginning this month, with the fourth and final phase set to begin from July to September 2025.

Police Commissioner, Andrew Coster, in a statement, sez Police received one mental health callout every seven minutes, taking up half a million hours of Police frontline time per year, of which of these callouts, only 11% are given a priority response.

News and Editorial Director and Monday Wire Host, Joel, spoke to Associate Professor in the School of Health at the University of Waikato, Sarah Gordon, about what this phased approach will look like heading forward.