Chris Cahill: Police Association President on the police pulling back from mental health callouts

The Police will continue with their plan to pull back from mental health callouts, but they're going about it more slowly.

From Monday, 4 of the 12 police districts will move into the second phase, which involves 60-minute ED handovers.  

They will now be staggered across districts, instead of all at once.  

The Mental Health Foundation has been critical of the pull back.  

Police Association President Chris Cahill told Mike Hosking police need to draw a strong line in the sand to ensure people are taken care of by the right people.  

He says that shouldn't involve police sitting in emergency departments for six hours.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Police are delaying the role out of the mental health
changes for the second time. He sort of saw this coming,
didn't You mean this is work. It's been underway to
reduce basically the demand that mental health called out to
have on the police. At the request of the multi
agency group who are running this, the rollouts now going
to be staggered across the various police districts rather than
the all at once approach. The Police Association president Chris
Carhills well US Chris morning, Mike. I didn't realize, but

(00:23):
there's apparently district variation. Is that true? And if it
is true, why.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Basically because different districts have different capability to actually from
health to actually deliver on it. So they simply don't
have the services in some of those district health boards
for one of the better phrase. Now they've amalgamated them
to actually deliver what the police need to hand over
these these people suffer in mental distress. So police have
agreed to just slow down and do it by district.

(00:51):
I mean the best thing might add. Finally, health and
the national level of recognizing they've got to step up
and take responsibility for what is a health problem, not
a police problem.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
How much of this in your heart of hearts do
you reckon? It's about people hating change, not liking it.
It's not my problem, so I'm going to complain a
lot and try install this as opposed to you know what,
it is your problem and you've got to step up.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Originally, there was certainly a lot of the of the
former people in the house area just didn't want to
take responsibility. And that's what we learned from overseas. Unless
police to align on the sand and say nope, you're
going to do it, the people suffering mental distress won't
get the right care from the right people at the
right time. And that is not police officers sitting in
hospitals for six ass that's not good for anyone. So

(01:36):
you know we had to push it. We pushed it.
I'm engaged in and I understand why we're want to
slow down and just make sure we get it right.
We don't want how one falling through the cracks. But
remember police will still go to anyone because at risk
of harming themselves or the public. So you're a police.
Time is spent on mental health call apse.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
It's the ridiculously I don't think, I don't think anyone
seeing a cop sitting there literally six hours an eed
is serving anybody well. I think most people get that.
So you remain as an idea. You're as confident as
you were.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Yeah. Look, I've spoken recently to the police team that
had grippn up. I've seen it. I'm going to hold
you to account. I don't want to see this as
a backdown. They've given me a surances note. It's just
making sure that things are in line to make sure
people don't slip through the cracks. So it takes a
little bit longer to get a right. So yet as
long as and this is the thing I'm most team

(02:29):
to make sure happens. How to on board and run
with it and don't just continue to push back you
bed It gets tough.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Okay, Chris, Well done, Chris Carhill, Police Association President. For
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