Program that eliminates Peel police apprehensions in four out of five mental health calls is woefully underfunded

The increasingly complex nature of modern crime, and the need to keep up with a growing workload, means money needs to be invested in other areas to ensure Peel police can do their job effectively, without continued investment into more boots on the ground, a philosophy which dominated Peel’s previous budgets.

The success of that strategy is debatable. A survey done by Forum Research commissioned by The Pointer in 2018 showed 90 percent of Brampton residents did not feel safer than they did a year earlier. The chief must address the needs of a community calling for a new way of doing things.

When Regional Council approved the 2021 budget for Peel Regional Police, questions around dealing with mental health crises dominated the discussion.

Mental health crises are rapidly rising in Peel but a program that has shown its potential to help both police and those suffering in the community is drastically underfunded in the region.

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Published in The Pointer Brampton and The Pointer Mississauga on February 23, 2021