British Columbia is rolling out a digital platform for police aimed at de-escalating their response to people with acute mental-health or substance-use issues and better connecting law enforcement with the health care system.
The HealthIM application is set to be used by police forces across B.C. by the end of 2025, said Mike Farnworth, the Public Safety Minister, on Wednesday. He said the government is investing $2-million to the B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police to support the rollout of the app, which is already used in a few cities and some other provinces.
HealthIM is downloaded on to officers’ smartphones and is intended to provide them with tools and information when responding to people in crisis. The responder is alerted to that person’s potential triggers as well as potential de-escalation techniques, based on prior contacts with the individual, and can alert a partnered hospital or acute care facility in advance of arrival.
“It’s crucial that B.C.’s law enforcement officers have the proper risk screening tools to navigate and de-escalate these complex situations effectively,” said Mr. Farnworth, who announced the launch of the app at a news conference in Port Moody, one day in advance of the platform’s rollout in that city.
The Delta Police Department, Surrey RCMP and Prince George RCMP have already been using HealthIM independently. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario also use the app.
Delta Police Insp. James Sandberg said his department has been using the platform since October, 2019, and has seen many benefits. As an example, he said if an officer had previously responded to someone who was highly stressed about unemployment, the app may offer trigger avoidance advice to not discuss employment.
Such notes would also be displayed immediately as soon as an officer punches the person’s name into the HealthIM app, whereas similar notes in the existing Police Records Information Management Environment (PRIME-BC) database are buried within individual police files.
“What we’ve found is, as our officers become more familiar with the platform, their ability to assess people has standardized. It’s increased and it’s gotten better. We’re making better decisions. What that means is our overall rate of apprehension essentially has dropped by about 20 per cent,” Insp. Sandberg told the news conference Wednesday.
Being able to alert receiving hospitals and acute care facilities in advance of arrival may also have contributed to a slight reduction in wait time for Delta police officers. Prior to implementation, officers waited at hospitals for an average of 130 minutes, compared with 110 minutes in 2022 and 121 minutes in 2023, according to the province.
HealthIM is intended to complement, not replace, PRIME-BC. Insp. Sandberg said assessments in the new app are attached to PRIME-BC files in a non-searchable manner, and that a privacy impact assessment had been conducted at the department.
Jennifer Whiteside, the Minister of Mental Health and Additions, said one in five interactions with police in the province involve a person experiencing a mental-health issue.
“These situations we know are also becoming increasingly complex, both for responders and for the individual experiencing the crisis,” she said. “It is so important that people when they are in a state of crisis be met with compassion, and that the safety of everyone is taken into consideration.”
Andrea Woo