Gardaí in Mayo spend over 1,800 man hours dealing with mental health issues

GARDAÍ in Mayo spend 1,800 man hours per year dealing with people experiencing mental health issues.

The figure was revealed by Ray McMahon, Chief Superintendent for the Mayo and Roscommon/Longford Policing Division before representatives at the December meeting of Mayo’s Joint Policing Committee. 

The county’s top garda was speaking during a presentation on the findings of a pilot programme for gardaí dealing with mentally unwell individuals.

Seventy-two percent of these cases dealt with outside of the hours of 7am to 5pm, when many mental health services are closed.

Currently operating Limerick, CAST (Community Access Support Team) aims to deliver a ‘health-led’ approach to individuals with addiction and mental health issues.

This involves gardaí cooperating closely with the HSE and local Section 39 agencies to ensure individuals receive all the necessary interventions and supports.

The initiative was rolled out on foot of a recommendation from the Future of Policing Commission in 2018.

An Garda Síochána liaised with police in nine different jurisdictions, including Northern Ireland, prior to the rollout of the programme.

Superintendent Andrew Lacey, who is based in Limerick, told the JPC that so-called ‘aligned intervention’ would help divert people away from the court service to receive appropriate care from mental health professionals.

Sgt Lacey said that PSNI in Derry and Strabane reported a 52 percent decrease in interactions with so-called ‘high presenters’ within six months of them interacting with a similar programme.

He added that similar programmes in cities in the US and Canada had resulted in hundreds of diversions away from emergency departments.

Gardaí spend between three and six hours dealing with calls regarding mentally unwell people, depending on if they require hospitalization.

In 2021, 6,315 people were arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act.

“We acknowledge, as guards, that we are not the appropriate service for a lot of this, and we want to get to the stage where we are part of the team to do it, but we’re not the lead in this. It should be a health-led approach,” said Sgt Lacey.

The pilot programme, which has been in operation for over three years, is based in Henry Street Garda Station in Limerick, where it is staffed by two gardaí, one sergeant and four full-time HSE members.

Between 25 to 30 local ‘co-responders’ have been trained to directly respond to people experiencing mental health issues.

Specialist training in dealing with people with mental health issues and addiction is currently being rolled out across An Garda Síochána.

The pilot programme was due to be rolled out across the country last month but has been stalled due to an ongoing recruitment freeze in the HSE.

Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh called for the freeze to be lifted so all the necessary staff could be recruited to roll out ‘really good initiatives’ like CAST across the country.

“It’s an excellent model, and proper collaboration is the way we’re going to tackle all of these issues,” said Deputy Conway-Walsh.

Chief Supt McMahon said he would welcome any additional resources to help Mayo gardaí deal with mental health issues.

“I would welcome any initiative that brings us working alongside mental health professionals. It can only be a better outcome for the individuals,” he said.

Responding to a question from Mayo JPC Chairman Cllr Al McDonnell, Sgt Lacey said that alcohol and drugs were a factor in many mental health-related calls.