Police fighting mental health crisis and not crime

Statistics suggest that 40% of Police time is spent dealing with the mentally ill rather than fighting crime according to the Police Federation.

 

According to Mr John Apter, the Police Federation Chairman, officers now spend 80 per cent of their time dealing with non-crime related incidents with the majority involving mental health issues.

 

Official figures show the number of mental health incidents, where Police were called, rose by 28 per cent between 2014 and 2018 with the number of incidents rising from 385,206 to 494,195.

 

These figures equate to 1,353 incidents a day.

 

Mr Apter commented that, "This country is in the grip of a growing mental health crisis, and my colleagues are at the very forefront of trying to protect and support vulnerable people." 

 

He further commented that, "these figures show we have reached beyond tipping point, and we would welcome a wider public investigation into these important issues." The remaining 40 per cent of non-crime incidents include missing people or "social" problems such as truant children or neighbourhood disputes.

 

Figures show there has been a 12 per cent increase in the number of detentions under section 136 of the Mental Health Act rising from 29,662 to 33,238. These are the cases that seemingly take hours of an officers time, sometimes upto an entire day, as Officers remain on scene until individuals can be handed to health staff.

 

Apter further commented that, "There is simply not enough investment in the mental health support system. Police officers regularly fill in for shortfalls."

 

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary warned that police forces are having to "pick up the pieces" from a "broken" NHS system, meaning they were "attending less other crimes".

 

In general it has been estimated that the police take a call every two minutes from someone who is mentally ill.