Busy start for new Vernon police unit dedicated to mental health calls

The Vernon RCMP's new unit dedicated to responding to mental health calls got its feet wet in the community at the end of 2023.

The Integrated Crisis Response Team (ICRT) was created in November as a response to an increase in mental health related occurrences in the North Okanagan, according to the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP's fourth-quarter 2023 policing report, which will be presented to Vernon council on Monday.

The unit consists of a police officer partnered with an Interior Health nurse, and responds to calls that have a mental health component.

According to the report, the ICRT took the lead on 88 of the 360 mental health calls in the Vernon area from October to December 2023, and conducted follow-up requests from officers. Those quarterly figures would likely be higher if the unit had been formed earlier than November.

"ICRT attends to check the well being of persons with mental health concerns, apprehends persons in crisis under the Mental Health Act and connects persons in need with the appropriate community resources. In addition, the ICRT teams meet with partner agencies to ensure valuable working relationships are cultivated," the report states.

As for crime statistics in the quarter, the Vernon area saw both positive and negative trends.

The number of calls for service declined 8.8 per cent in Vernon in the fourth quarter. That made for a 4.6 per cent reduction in calls for the entire year.

However, property offences in Vernon rose 13.8 per cent in the quarter, which drove a 1.1 per cent increase for the year.

The same trend was reported in rural Vernon, which saw a 7.7 per cent decrease in calls for service in the quarter and an even more dramatic 33.3 per cent spike in property crimes.

Coldstream saw no change in calls for service in the quarter but saw a 6.6 per cent decrease in Criminal Code offences and a 21.8 per cent decline in property offences.

In Armstrong, there was a 5.1 increase in calls for service in the quarter but a 61 per cent plummet in property offences, bucking the trend in the rest of the North Okanagan.

Spallumcheen and Enderby both saw significant declines in calls for service and property crimes.

In Falkland, calls for service went up 59 per cent, and property offences rose 38 per cent.

Lumby calls for service flatlined in the quarter, but Criminal Code offences dropped 42 per cent and property crimes dropped 22.7 per cent.

The Westside saw significant decreases across the board: a 61 per cent drop in calls, a 65 per cent decline in Criminal Code violations and a 57 per cent drop in property offences.

A numberof investigations were pursued during the quarter. On Nov. 5, police in Vernon investigated a vehicle crash involving a pedestrian, which resulted in the death of the 54-year-old man. A suspect vehicle was identified and the 31-year-old driver was arrested. The investigation is ongoing.

On Dec. 12, police were notified of a suspicious man in a vehicle in the 2800 block of 43rd Avenue in Vernon. Officers located what is believed to be a homemade explosive device in the vehicle and cordoned off the area while awaiting the RCMP's Explosive Disposal Unit. A 28-year-old man was taken into custody and charged with failing to comply with a release order.