View from the Fed: Policing needs “change of culture” so officers aren't tied up with mental-health calls

7 June 2023

There needs to be a “change of culture” in policing so that officers are not tied up with mental-health and low-risk missing persons calls, Kent Police Federation has said.

Federation Chair Neil Mennie was speaking following reports that the Metropolitan Police is to stop attending mental health calls from September, unless there’s a threat to life. The Met has also said that its officers will no longer respond to ‘low-risk’ missing person reports, allowing more appropriate agencies to deal with them.

Neil said: “Kent Police colleagues have been telling us for a number of years that they’re frustrated by the amount of time they spend dealing with mental health issues. Often they find themselves attending calls that in reality should be dealt with by other health professionals.

“Taking over a shift and having to ‘relieve someone at the hospital’ indicates the pedestrian rate at which partner agencies often manage these situations, and it ties up police resources needlessly.

“This is not a criticism of other agencies, who are suffering from their own challenges, but the police cannot continue filling the gaps. In Kent, there have been some improvements with protocols and places of safety to try and get patients the appropriate care and avoiding S136 detentions as far as possible.”

Elsewhere in the country, Humberside Police has recently implemented the approach of ‘Right Care, Right Person’, and has had significant success, considerably reducing the demand on police officers and freeing them up to tackle crime.

Neil backed this approach, but said: “This will require a change of culture, as it has become about ‘transfer of risk’ over the years, and an expectation of police attendance can be challenging to come away from.

“But the needs of individuals experiencing mental health crises can be complex and wide-ranging, requiring specialist health professionals. You wouldn’t expect the police to attend when someone has broken their leg – although we have some very capable first aiders and medics, those are for very specific operational circumstances. Mental health needs to catch up and free up cops to do the policing they should be doing.”

Missing persons was another time-consuming area of work, which in some cases did not require police intervention, Neil said.

He said: “Some individuals are reported missing on a weekly basis, often due to a vulnerability, and each case is risk-assessed.

“Sometimes we contact private care homes to tell them that a patrol has located a missing person, and they say they don’t have anyone to come and collect them. It is also not unusual for people to call the police when someone has ‘just left’.

“Our excellent call-takers do push back in these situations, but they shouldn’t have to waste their valuable time having to point out some very basic actions that could help.”

Neil added: “This isn’t an exact science, and of course there are those missing who will require police attendance. We have a very capable team who manage our high-risk missing persons, but I am not sure they always get the buy-in they need from other agencies and partners.”