Police mental health callouts have been rising in Tauranga and Rotorua. Photo / Getty Images
Advisory: This article mentions mental health events and suicide.
Police have been taking longer to respond to mental health-related callouts as the number of events has risen in Rotorua and Tauranga, new data shows. A Bay of Plenty resident describes having to call the police due to a family member threatening self-harm, while an expert believes the system is "sick and broken". Megan Wilson reports.
"There was blood on the walls - it was everywhere."
That's one woman's traumatic memory of a self-harm event in which a family member - fuelled by alcohol and drugs - smashed his hands through a window.
The Bay of Plenty woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his privacy, said the incident happened this year. She contacted the police and it took them about 15 minutes to respond, which she was "relieved" about.
Ambulance staff also attended but he was "in such distress" police had to "restrain" him so medics could sedate and treat him, she said.
The relative was taken to hospital and later placed in emergency housing. A drug and alcohol support service helped him "to get him clean and sober" and into rehab, where he was on his way to recovery.
The woman is sharing her story as data showed police have been taking longer to respond to mental health-related callouts as the number of events has risen in Tauranga and Rotorua over five years.
Official Information Act (OIA) figures from police show mental health events rising an average of 3 per cent month-on-month in both police areas between 2016 and 2021.
Rotorua police attended 3793 mental health events in that period, averaging about 14.6 per week
In Tauranga, the 3318 events averaged about 12.8 per week.
The time taken for police to respond to mental health events also rose, with the overall median response time up 40 per cent - or six minutes - during that time.
However, this could fluctuate with demand and seasons, so it may not be appropriate to compare just any two months, the OIA response said.
In Tauranga, the median response time to mental health events was 18 minutes and 47 seconds. In Rotorua, it was 18 minutes and 24 seconds. This was calculated as the time between the acceptance of the events and the first arrival of a police unit.
Te Mana Hauora o Te Arawa chairman Michael Naera said he believed police responding to thousands of mental health-related callouts was "wasting the police's resources".
In his view, police were not sufficiently trained to interact with people experiencing acute mental distress and were trained in "low-level responses" to mental distress, he said.
Rather, he believed it should be the responsibility of the health sector.
Naera said there was a "funnel effect" due to suicide prevention rhetoric advising to call for help.
"So everyone calls for help and you have to go through this funnelling system before you get the help. And it creates huge demand on our police and on our health system.
"Everyone's impacted - from the police to the health sector and then whānau are more impacted because they're screaming out for help and that help hasn't come other than a police officer showing up, trying to calm a volatile situation."
He said a police assessment of a person's mental distress was "subjective" and based on their basic training.
"It's a hit and miss which raises the risks of whānau who are thinking suicidal thoughts, who are at risk of killing themselves, harming themselves or harming others.
''It's a sick and a broken system really that needs to be addressed at that crisis level."
The OIA response said police recognised a mental health crisis required a health response.
As well as providing advice to callers about contacting health professionals as appropriate, police communication centres could also connect callers with an early mental health response telehealth service operated by qualified psychiatric nurses.
Police were reviewing response times, specifically how they were reported and measures, how accurately they were reported nationally, and in districts.
Bay of Plenty police prevention manager Inspector Steve Bullock said officers received training on de-escalation, decision-making under pressure and recognising signs of mental health distress.
"A police officer's role is not to diagnose people or treat mental health, but we recognise the role we play as first responders and in preventing further harm.
"Our role is to ensure that those experiencing mental distress, and those around them, are safe and that individuals are referred to health professionals for appropriate support."
Bullock said each callout was different and the response was tailored to the situation.
Officers encountered people in various levels of mental health distress, which were not necessarily captured under callouts specifically coded as mental health events.
For example, the victim or perpetrator of an assault may in fact be experiencing mental health distress, however, the incident will be coded as an "assault," Bullock said.
Health Minister Andrew Little said people who had mental health-coded events attended by police were often acutely distressed, but not necessarily suffering from mental illness requiring further treatment.
Little said of the 197,158 mental health events police attended nationally during the five-year period, figures from the Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data showed almost half - 95,153 - resulted in a referral or follow-up contact with a mental health specialist service.
He acknowledged gaps in specialist and mental health services but said the Government was working to make improvements.
"Expanding and enhancing Aotearoa New Zealand's mental health crisis services is a priority and in Budget 2022 we committed $100 million to address gaps in supports and services for those with the highest needs."
This included $27.45m of new funding over four years to boost existing crisis response services and provide funding for new community crisis services.
It also included $18.7m to enhance existing specialist child and adolescent mental health and addiction services so about 1300 young people could be supported by more staff, he said.
"This is on top of the community-based mental health supports now available through GP clinics, Kaupapa Māori, Pacific, and youth services which have provided more than 500,000 free mental health sessions that did not exist before to thousands of New Zealanders to help prevent small issues becoming bigger problems.
"We're building a whole new mental health system and it does take time, we know there is more work to do but just three years into the plan there's already been huge change and it's making a real difference for thousands of New Zealanders."
If it is an emergency and you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
For counselling and support
Lifeline: Call 0800 543 354 or text 4357 (HELP)
Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
Need to talk? Call or text 1737
Depression helpline: Call 0800 111 757 or text 4202
For children and young people
Youthline: Call 0800 376 633 or text 234
What's Up: Call 0800 942 8787 (11am to 11pm) or webchat (11am to 10.30pm)
For help with specific issues
Alcohol and Drug Helpline: Call 0800 787 797
Anxiety Helpline: Call 0800 269 4389 (0800 ANXIETY)
OutLine: Call 0800 688 5463 (0800 OUTLINE) (6pm-9pm)
Safe to talk (sexual harm): Call 0800 044 334 or text 4334
All services are free and available 24/7 unless otherwise specified.
For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team, or counselling service. The Mental Health Foundation has more helplines and service contacts on its website.
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