Police manager of health partnerships Matt Morris told RNZ: “Police will be applying a new threshold to mental health response matters – in essence, a set of business rules around what police should and shouldn’t be involved in.”
The pullback supported Health NZ’s aim of providing a “least restrictive” and coercive response to people in mental distress, he said.
They were regularly meeting with Health NZ and the Ministry of Health about the plans.
Police plan a four-phase pullback between November and into next year.
Phase one includes:
- voluntary handovers at emergency departments (ED) – there will be a documented handover of anyone transported by police to ED for a voluntary mental health assessment (not detained under the Mental Health Act), and police will leave soon after;
- transportation – this was a routine request, but from November “we will be requiring that mental health services provide more risk planning” first, and the new thresholds will apply;
- mental health facilities – the new threshold will apply for going to facilities “to reduce unnecessary police presence on health premises, especially inpatient mental health units”.
- RNZ
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
