RCMP report 62 per cent uptick in mental health, wellness call response as critics demand better data

The RCMP doesn’t have one definition for ‘wellness checks’ to track its interactions with the population and their outcomes—data that critics say is sorely needed to understand deadly police encounters.

RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki told MPs at committee last month that the number of calls the force responds to on mental health 'are growing exponentially,' and new data supports that claim. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

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BY SAMANTHA WRIGHT ALLEN

July 22, 2020

The RCMP have seen a 62 per cent increase in mental health and well-being calls over the last five years—worrying but incomplete results that have critics demanding better data and redoubling calls for an inquiry into police-involved deaths for those in crisis.

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