Timmins police learn de-escalation tactics when responding to mental health crisis calls

Timmins police officers undergo provincially mandated training using virtual reality technology. (Lydia Chubak/CTV News)

Two years ago, the province mandated that all police officers complete mental health crisis response training.

With the April 1 deadline approaching, the Timmins Police Service is partnering with Northern College to ensure every officer meets the requirement.

They’re using virtual reality technology to simulate situations officers could face.

A key component of the training is de-escalation. Police practise responding to high-pressure situations in a controlled, immersive environment.

Officers learn how to identify individuals experiencing mental health crises and how to respond to them compassionately without the use of force.

“What if the person is suffering from schizophrenia? What exactly are you looking for in order to resolve this?” said Staff Sgt. Mike Fortin.

Increase chances of success

“That could be different than somebody … that’s manic. So knowing the differences and being able to identify that increases our chance of success -- of being able to relate with that person and come to a peaceful resolution.”

Fortin oversees the mental health crisis response training and is also one of the trainers.

Northern College said it was the first one in the province to invest in VR training for its police foundation program.

“We’ve partnered with Timmins Police Service so that they could use this room for the training,” said Rick Lemieux, coordinator of Northern College’s police foundations program.

“It gives them an opportunity to have it always set up, always ready to go and it gives our students an opportunity to practise what we’ve taught them in class.”

“We’ve been doing this training for quite some time here at the college and in partnership with the college, but now that it’s mandatory for all police services in the province, we were already ahead of the game,” said Timmins Police Chief Syd Lecky.

Fortin said all officers will be trained by the end of March and they will need to retake it annually.