Image Credit: FILE PHOTO
May 22, 2018 - 2:00 PM
KAMLOOPS - A mobile mental health unit initiated by Interior Health and Kamloops RCMP will keep patrolling after a joint agreement ended last month.
There’s been talk at Kamloops city council about adding a second mental health nurse and addiction clinician but the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions and Interior Health both say there are no plans to expand the program.
"At this time, there is no decision or commitment to allocate resources to a second car," an Interior Health spokesperson says.
The Car 40 program was started in 2013 to help officers deal with mental health crises around the city more successfully.
The program allows a designated officer and a mental health nurse to work together from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. patrolling in an unmarked police car to handle mental health calls. In the evening, a solo officer handles mental health calls with the help of the Kamloops Mental Health After Hours Response Team at Royal Inland Hospital.
Interior Health says the program will be up for review soon.
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