When We Reach Out, Who Should Respond? (Directed by Luke Galati, 2023)

00:56:33
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LXjGkvWmRc

Ringkasan

TLDRThe documentary is a profound exploration into the systemic issues surrounding mental health crises and their responses, particularly by police. It begins with the creator's personal account of a mental health crisis in 2017, shedding light on how police intervention can be problematic. The film critiques current practices, emphasizing the tragic outcomes for individuals like Ijaz Choudhary, Albert Johnson, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, and Sammy Yatim, while advocating for community-based mental health teams to act as first responders. Featuring insights from professionals like former Supreme Court Justice Frank Yakubuchi and mental health advocate Rachel Bromberg, the film underlines a need for empathy-driven, health-focused interventions. Encouraging hope for change, it introduces Toronto's pilot program to redirect mental health crisis calls away from police, emphasizing a paradigm shift towards more compassionate care. This film, through diverse voices and comprehensive storytelling, aspires to innovative changes ensuring better futures for those in mental health crises.

Takeaways

  • 🏠 Personal Narrative: The creator shares a personal mental health crisis story from 2017, underscoring flaws in police response.
  • 🚔 Police Encounters: Critical examination of how police handle mental health crises, with tragic examples like Ijaz Choudhary's case.
  • 🏥 Call for Reforms: Advocates for community-based responses over police involvement in mental health crises.
  • 💡 Insights from Experts: Includes perspectives from figures like former Justice Frank Yakubuchi and mental health workers.
  • 📉 Statistics: Mentions high rates of fatalities among people with mental health crises when encountered by police.
  • 🔄 System Transformation: Introduction of Toronto's pilot program directing calls to health workers instead of police.
  • 🏛️ Historical Context: Revisits historical cases like Albert Johnson's, indicating longstanding systemic issues.
  • 🏙️ Model Programs: Highlights successful alternative programs like Cahoots in Oregon as a template for reform.
  • 📢 Public Advocacy: Urges societal change, reflecting on global movements for racial justice and equity.
  • 🌍 Inclusive Vision: Envisions a future where mental health crises are managed with compassion and without fear.
  • 🔬 Continued Evolution: Emphasizes that crisis response systems need constant review and adaptation.
  • 🌈 Broad Hope: Ends with a hopeful note for progress towards safer, more empathetic treatment for mental health issues.

Garis waktu

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The narrator begins by recalling a personal experience during a mental health crisis in 2017, where they felt unsafe, leading to a dangerous situation involving police intervention. They reflect on the relief of not being harmed and emphasize the need for better mental health crisis responses.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The documentary shifts focus to an incident where Ejaz Choudhary, a man with schizophrenia, was fatally shot by police during a wellness check. The community mourns and criticizes systemic failures in addressing mental health crises, highlighting a need for change and justice.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    A speaker discusses historical mistrust in police systems among South Asian and Black communities following cycles of violence and police misconduct. The community expresses solidarity and demands for systemic change in police responses to mental health situations.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    John Sewell, former mayor of Toronto, criticizes the city's inadequate response to mental health crises. He discusses past efforts to implement alternative response teams and the ongoing challenges posed by police resistance to these changes.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Sewell details the ineffective expansion of police-led crisis intervention teams and recalls the case of Albert Johnson, a black man killed by police in 1979, which exemplifies systemic issues with police-centered responses to mental health crises.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    The narrator explores alternative crisis response models with mental health experts proposing non-police interventions. These include peer-led support teams integrated within emergency services to provide appropriate care without police involvement.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:35:00

    Discussions highlight the need for non-police-led crisis intervention due to negative impacts on individuals from marginalized communities when police are involved. Proposed changes stress the importance of specialized, compassionate response teams.

  • 00:35:00 - 00:40:00

    The case of Sammy Yatim, who was fatally shot by police during a mental health crisis, exemplifies the urgent need for police reform and alternative response strategies. Recommendations from a report by Frank Iacobucci stress zero-death goals and better mental health response training for police.

  • 00:40:00 - 00:45:00

    Frank Iacobucci reflects on his report which advocated for a goal of zero police fatalities in mental health crisis situations and improved cross-institutional cooperation. Challenges persist, particularly in integrating health departments' perspectives.

  • 00:45:00 - 00:50:00

    The narrator examines Cahoots, a successful non-police crisis response model in the U.S., emphasizing creative, non-punitive approaches in handling mental health crises. They discuss community concerns about the safety and effectiveness of unarmed responders.

  • 00:50:00 - 00:56:33

    The film concludes with a focus on Toronto's upcoming pilot program for non-police crisis responses, highlighting community optimism and the potential for systemic change. The narrator emphasizes collective responsibility and hope for a safer and more compassionate future.

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Peta Pikiran

Mind Map

Video Tanya Jawab

  • What prompted the creation of this documentary?

    The creator experienced a mental health crisis in 2017 and wanted to explore how responses to such crises can be improved, following personal experiences and tragic incidents involving police.

  • Who was Ijaz Choudhary and why is his story important?

    Ijaz Choudhary was a 62-year-old man suffering from schizophrenia who was killed by police during a wellness check. His story highlights the dangers in how police handle mental health crises.

  • What are some reforms suggested in the documentary for handling mental health crises?

    The documentary suggests community-based mental health crisis teams as first responders, reducing police involvement, and promoting non-violent interventions.

  • What changes are happening in Toronto regarding mental health crisis response?

    Toronto is initiating a new pilot program where harm reduction workers and nurses respond to non-violent mental health crisis calls instead of police.

  • Who are some of the key figures mentioned in the documentary?

    Key figures include former mayor John Sewell, former Supreme Court Justice Frank Yakubuchi, and mental health advocates Asante Haughton and Rachel Bromberg.

  • What is the main message of the documentary?

    The main message is that mental health crises should be treated as health issues, not criminal ones, and should be handled with empathy and care.

  • Which organizations or initiatives are highlighted as models for change?

    The documentary highlights the Cahoots program in Eugene, Oregon, as a model for non-police-led crisis intervention.

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Teks
en
Gulir Otomatis:
  • 00:00:02
    foreign
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    this is my home
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    I'm going to tell you about a time that
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    in reflection I'm grateful to have come
  • 00:00:21
    back
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    it was the summer of 2017 and my mind
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    was playing tricks on me
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    I live with bipolar and sometimes it's
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    not easy
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    at the time I thought that those who
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    loved me wanted to hurt me so I ran away
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    from what I thought was Danger
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    in the midst of this Mental Health
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    crisis my father ran after me and my mom
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    called 9-1-1 for help
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    with no shoes on I ran past the video
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    store past the corner store past my
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    childhood best friend's house passed the
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    librarian towards the bustling streets
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    of the Danforth
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    the problem is that I was doing this in
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    the middle of the road
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    I decided to sit in the middle of this
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    busy Toronto intersection as cars honked
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    at me holding up traffic my neighbor
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    tried to help but the police showed up
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    and took over the scene the police car
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    swerved in front of me trying to get me
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    to stop as I got more scared and headed
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    west it was a dangerous game of cat and
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    mouse as I ran while the police car
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    continuously tried to cut me off then
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    once I ran past the church I just
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    stopped and sat down
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    they put me in an ambulance against my
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    will and looking back I feel lucky to
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    have not been hurt
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    I know that not everyone who goes
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    through Mental Health crisis in the city
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    has the same outcome that I had
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    after things settled down my mom
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    actually thanked the police officers for
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    not shooting me because she thought back
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    the past tragic outcomes from within the
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    city more than not being hit by a car I
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    feel grateful that the police didn't see
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    me as a threat and act aggressively
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    this documentary will explore the
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    question of who should respond to mental
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    health crises in Toronto
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    I want to understand how we can create
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    less tragic outcomes for future
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    Generations when treating Mental Health
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    crisis and answer the question when we
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    reach out for help we should respond
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    we now go to our top story of the day
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    from Mississauga where a man was killed
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    by police in his own home sixty chilled
  • 00:02:44
    ejaz choudhary was suffering from
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    schizophrenia and may have stopped
  • 00:02:47
    taking his medication where the family
  • 00:02:49
    of a 62 year old man shot dead by police
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    are demanding Justice what started as a
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    wellness check on a father of four who
  • 00:02:56
    suffered from schizophrenia ended with a
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    violent and fatal encounter with police
  • 00:03:09
    this is where it happened this is where
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    the police shot ejaz choudhary when I
  • 00:03:14
    heard the story of a 62 year old father
  • 00:03:16
    of four being killed in his own home it
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    made no sense
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    it's a perfect example of why the system
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    is broken
  • 00:03:24
    we have to do better in a society in
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    responding to people in need whether
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    they're old or young whether they take
  • 00:03:30
    medication or not
  • 00:03:33
    I want to give this community a platform
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    to share how they feel in their words
  • 00:03:37
    this is part of a Father's Day vigil
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    that this community held for ijaz
  • 00:03:41
    choudhary they can say it much better
  • 00:03:43
    than me
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    foreign
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    [Music]
  • 00:03:55
    for coming out today for Uncle Charles
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    one year anniversary of his murder
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    where he was murdered from the police he
  • 00:04:06
    was taken away from the community
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    I just want to tell you guys a little
  • 00:04:11
    bit about how I knew Uncle Lee jazz in
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    this community of Moulton
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    [Music]
  • 00:04:19
    ugly Jazz was a well-known Community
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    member
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    he was loved
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    he would always greet me with a nod in
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    his head and with a smile
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    while he was praying in the Masjid
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    the Moss
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    and when he was taken away from from
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    this community
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    from me knowing him as a person
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    it does it devastated the community
  • 00:04:49
    it devastated the community so much that
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    it brought it brought everyone
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    to understanding that
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    this is the reality of where we live in
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    in Canada
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    just ask people around you
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    there's many many stories that have
  • 00:05:08
    occurred in this very same neighborhood
  • 00:05:09
    I've experienced a bit seen some of it
  • 00:05:12
    and heard about even more
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    being from a South Asian family our view
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    of the police bit different than some of
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    our brothers and sisters of color
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    our people generally believed and
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    trusted in the system they immigrated to
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    they believe the pipe dream of freedom
  • 00:05:30
    and equality my own parents included
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    however when they began raising the Next
  • 00:05:37
    Generation in this country they also
  • 00:05:39
    learned
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    they learned it's all a lie
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    now that the police have murdered a
  • 00:05:46
    brown Muslim man we all understand and
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    feel the pain of our black brothers and
  • 00:05:50
    sisters who have been suffering from the
  • 00:05:52
    same thing for decades now
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    Russ empowered to Jamal Franciscan
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    DeAndre Campbell and the countless
  • 00:05:59
    others killed by the funk Hill Police
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    however we are here to remember Uncle
  • 00:06:07
    ijaz today his murder has changed us and
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    Martin as a whole we will always
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    remember when our Hood rolls up and
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    United against the system
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    we will never forget Uncle ijaz to us he
  • 00:06:19
    will live forever
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    may Allah Grant him Paradise in the
  • 00:06:22
    Hereafter and watch over his family the
  • 00:06:24
    struggle continues thank you
  • 00:06:30
    [Music]
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    [Music]
  • 00:06:54
    I thought that it would be important to
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    speak with someone who could highlight
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    just how long this struggle has been
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    going on for John Sewell is a former
  • 00:07:02
    mayor of Toronto and is a member of the
  • 00:07:04
    Toronto police accountability Coalition
  • 00:07:06
    a watchdog of Toronto police we had a
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    candid Conversation Over Zoom when did
  • 00:07:12
    you first realize that there were issues
  • 00:07:14
    with how Toronto responds to Mental
  • 00:07:15
    Health crisis in this city
  • 00:07:18
    um I think we responded oh about uh 10
  • 00:07:22
    or 11 years ago
  • 00:07:23
    2010 2011 the city had set up
  • 00:07:29
    um a mobile crisis intervention team
  • 00:07:31
    in 2005. sorry the the the chief had
  • 00:07:35
    which consisted of uh plain close
  • 00:07:38
    officers in the mental health nurse
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    but in fact
  • 00:07:43
    they were covering very very small part
  • 00:07:46
    of the city and only for one shift today
  • 00:07:49
    or something
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    and so our group Toronto police
  • 00:07:53
    accountability Coalition pushed very
  • 00:07:55
    hard to to try and get that expanded
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    throughout the city
  • 00:08:00
    we made a number of deputations to the
  • 00:08:04
    Police Services Board trying to get them
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    to do it they never would
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    um and then
  • 00:08:10
    in fact we realized and this would
  • 00:08:12
    probably be 2015.
  • 00:08:16
    that in fact
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    this mobile crisis intervention team was
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    never the first responder
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    that was always attending after primary
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    officers had come there and done
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    whatever they had to do and and people
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    were being killed two or three people
  • 00:08:33
    every year who were in metal crisis who
  • 00:08:35
    were being killed in Toronto
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    um and so that's when we made the case
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    that they should be the First Responders
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    um
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    so that that would be about six years
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    ago I think that we first started to
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    make that case
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    who do you believe should be the First
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    Responders for individuals in Mental
  • 00:08:54
    Health crisis oh I I think by
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    having a community-based mental health
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    crisis team is by far the best the
  • 00:09:03
    problem with the police
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    is that they're trained to command and
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    control you go into any situation you
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    say hey lie down put your hands up put
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    your hands behind your back whatever it
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    is
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    to control the situation and when they
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    do that to somebody who's in a mental
  • 00:09:21
    crisis and when they're there in a big
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    ugly uniform with guns and tasers and
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    batons
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    those people get really really upset
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    so getting them out of the picture is
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    bound to improve things
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    um and if you have someone who
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    understands Mental Health crisis things
  • 00:09:43
    particularly people have been through it
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    themselves
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    that seems to be able to deal with those
  • 00:09:48
    issues perfectly well what has been the
  • 00:09:51
    police's response when you've
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    recommended these policies or that they
  • 00:09:54
    they've just ignored them they've always
  • 00:09:56
    ignored them
  • 00:09:58
    um just as they've ignored the advice by
  • 00:10:00
    Toronto City Council of a year ago
  • 00:10:01
    saying we want to establish this thing
  • 00:10:04
    and and the police have now expanded
  • 00:10:06
    their mobile crisis intervention team
  • 00:10:09
    um in the in the last four or five
  • 00:10:11
    months one of our TPAC bulletins dealt
  • 00:10:14
    with that issue it's just so they've
  • 00:10:17
    moved in exactly the wrong direction
  • 00:10:20
    um you know that the police they like
  • 00:10:22
    their power they'll they got lots of
  • 00:10:25
    money they're always given all the money
  • 00:10:27
    they want and they just spend it however
  • 00:10:29
    they want
  • 00:10:30
    has there been an example of the police
  • 00:10:32
    using Force which has been emblematic of
  • 00:10:34
    some of these issues of having police
  • 00:10:35
    actors First Responders or people in
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    Mental Health crisis well the the big
  • 00:10:39
    one that of course stands out for me is
  • 00:10:42
    the the death of Albert Johnson
  • 00:10:44
    Albert Johnson was a black man who had
  • 00:10:47
    mental health issues
  • 00:10:50
    um well known to the police
  • 00:10:53
    um well known to the community he was
  • 00:10:55
    never a danger to anybody it just you
  • 00:10:57
    know
  • 00:10:59
    um and the police killed him they went
  • 00:11:02
    into his house in 1979 and killed him I
  • 00:11:06
    happened to be mayor at the time I spoke
  • 00:11:09
    out and I said this has got to change we
  • 00:11:11
    can't continue to have this kind of we
  • 00:11:13
    have to have big serious change
  • 00:11:17
    that was 1979.
  • 00:11:20
    right that's 42 years ago we still
  • 00:11:24
    haven't got it I might say at that time
  • 00:11:26
    I was vilified people said you just hate
  • 00:11:28
    the cops that's your problem yeah and
  • 00:11:30
    I'm saying I want to change you know so
  • 00:11:33
    that's the one event that stands out for
  • 00:11:35
    me but I mean there are many others that
  • 00:11:37
    have happened since there where they've
  • 00:11:39
    killed people
  • 00:11:40
    but he was the eighth person killed by
  • 00:11:44
    Toronto police in a 13-month period
  • 00:11:48
    in 1979 I spoke out the police didn't
  • 00:11:52
    kill a single person for 16 months
  • 00:11:55
    so it shows you know if you speak out
  • 00:11:57
    you can actually
  • 00:11:59
    scare people into change
  • 00:12:01
    uh you know and as soon as they got rid
  • 00:12:03
    of me as mayor I didn't get reelected uh
  • 00:12:06
    that that's when they killed their first
  • 00:12:07
    person
  • 00:12:08
    there's a new pilot program in the works
  • 00:12:10
    where unarmed civilians will be the
  • 00:12:12
    First Responders for some Mental Health
  • 00:12:14
    crisis calls what's your response to
  • 00:12:16
    this new program well that's good but in
  • 00:12:19
    fact they're only going to respond in
  • 00:12:21
    cases where there's no opportunity for
  • 00:12:23
    violence well often the reason that
  • 00:12:26
    people phone is because they're worried
  • 00:12:29
    about violence
  • 00:12:31
    so
  • 00:12:33
    um I I think that's wrong and our group
  • 00:12:34
    has opposed that very strongly we
  • 00:12:36
    continually said sorry the you know the
  • 00:12:40
    community people should be First
  • 00:12:41
    Responders
  • 00:12:47
    [Music]
  • 00:12:49
    Manchester Avenue in Toronto's West End
  • 00:12:51
    it looks like any residential area with
  • 00:12:54
    a local laundromat but this is the
  • 00:12:56
    street where the Toronto police kicked
  • 00:12:58
    in the back door of Albert Johnson's
  • 00:12:59
    home in 1979 and shot him in front of
  • 00:13:02
    his seven-year-old daughter
  • 00:13:04
    Albert Johnson's wife lemona publicly
  • 00:13:06
    said that coming from Jamaica she didn't
  • 00:13:09
    know who to call during a mental health
  • 00:13:10
    crisis
  • 00:13:11
    she said that she wished she had called
  • 00:13:13
    a doctor rather than the police
  • 00:13:16
    tragedies like this should not take
  • 00:13:18
    place
  • 00:13:19
    sad reality that according to the Human
  • 00:13:21
    Rights Commission in 2020 black
  • 00:13:23
    Canadians are 20 times more likely than
  • 00:13:25
    a white person to be killed by Toronto
  • 00:13:27
    police
  • 00:13:28
    the CBC reported that since the year
  • 00:13:31
    2000 70 of the people who died during
  • 00:13:34
    encounters with the police had mental
  • 00:13:35
    health challenges substance issues or a
  • 00:13:38
    combination of the two
  • 00:13:40
    Albert Johnson was a man who had a
  • 00:13:42
    beautiful family forever changed
  • 00:13:45
    Albert Johnson would have been 78 years
  • 00:13:48
    old today
  • 00:13:53
    [Music]
  • 00:14:00
    I'm going to introduce you to Rachel
  • 00:14:01
    Bromberg and Asante Haughton who both
  • 00:14:04
    work in the mental health sector and
  • 00:14:05
    founded an organization called the
  • 00:14:07
    regional response Network they have been
  • 00:14:09
    working with the city to change the
  • 00:14:10
    status quo when it comes to advocating
  • 00:14:12
    for non-police-led crisis response teams
  • 00:14:15
    in Toronto
  • 00:14:16
    we met up to speak about how they see
  • 00:14:18
    this issue from their professional and
  • 00:14:20
    lived experience
  • 00:14:24
    then we just got to talking and we said
  • 00:14:26
    you know the system is kind of messed up
  • 00:14:29
    and something needs to change uh both of
  • 00:14:31
    us have lived experience but also a lot
  • 00:14:33
    of professional experience and I was
  • 00:14:35
    just having a lot of conversations with
  • 00:14:37
    people who were calling or reaching out
  • 00:14:39
    when they were in crisis and I noticed
  • 00:14:42
    that often the folks that I was talking
  • 00:14:45
    to would tell me that you know they're
  • 00:14:48
    maybe they're thinking about suicide but
  • 00:14:49
    they're not comfortable sharing more why
  • 00:14:51
    well when I would ask them why they
  • 00:14:53
    would be like well because I'm worried
  • 00:14:54
    that if I tell you more then you'll have
  • 00:14:56
    to call 9-1-1 and police will show up
  • 00:14:58
    maybe they'd had bad experience with
  • 00:15:00
    with police before maybe they'd heard
  • 00:15:02
    stories about these experiences maybe
  • 00:15:04
    they're just you know they're from a
  • 00:15:06
    community that has historically had
  • 00:15:08
    really negative relationships with
  • 00:15:09
    police you know what we were seeing were
  • 00:15:12
    people who were not getting help and
  • 00:15:13
    being served and I think uh you know
  • 00:15:15
    when we were talking about it I think
  • 00:15:17
    part of the conversation was prompted by
  • 00:15:19
    a situation that we had at work where
  • 00:15:22
    you know 9-1-1 was down and the police
  • 00:15:24
    showed up and and we were just kind of
  • 00:15:26
    like is this the only answer we really
  • 00:15:29
    wanted to support the city in developing
  • 00:15:33
    a framework for a new crisis service
  • 00:15:36
    that could respond to a whole bunch of
  • 00:15:38
    Mental Health crisis calls that are
  • 00:15:41
    currently being responded to by police
  • 00:15:42
    but don't necessarily need a police
  • 00:15:44
    response so making sure that the right
  • 00:15:47
    person is responding to the right
  • 00:15:48
    situation at the right time and in a lot
  • 00:15:52
    of cases that's you know unarmed crisis
  • 00:15:53
    workers who have expertise in suicide
  • 00:15:56
    de-escalation and risk assessment
  • 00:15:58
    crisis work that's who should be going
  • 00:16:01
    to a lot of these calls very naively
  • 00:16:03
    we're like well let's change it and it
  • 00:16:05
    kind of just really started from there
  • 00:16:06
    you know and we didn't know what we were
  • 00:16:08
    going to do or how we were going to do
  • 00:16:10
    it but we knew that we wanted to do
  • 00:16:11
    something that would bring about change
  • 00:16:14
    so we're proposing a non-police crisis
  • 00:16:17
    service that would be staffed
  • 00:16:20
    staffers including peer workers people
  • 00:16:21
    with lived
  • 00:16:22
    evidence of their own Mental Health
  • 00:16:23
    crisis who have training in providing
  • 00:16:26
    support for others experiencing similar
  • 00:16:28
    types of Crisis and we were advocating
  • 00:16:31
    that this kind of team be available 24 7
  • 00:16:34
    across the city integrated into 9-1-1
  • 00:16:38
    dispatch so that people calling 911
  • 00:16:39
    could have access to the service just
  • 00:16:41
    because we we know when we heard from
  • 00:16:44
    our town halls that a lot of folks call
  • 00:16:47
    9-1-1 because that's that's just the
  • 00:16:49
    number that's the only number they know
  • 00:16:50
    that's the number they've been trained
  • 00:16:51
    since childhood that's the number to
  • 00:16:53
    call when you're in crisis when there's
  • 00:16:54
    an emergency happening so making sure
  • 00:16:56
    that it was integrated there but we also
  • 00:16:58
    heard
  • 00:17:00
    um from community members that some
  • 00:17:01
    folks don't feel comfortable calling
  • 00:17:02
    9-1-1 because of the strong associations
  • 00:17:04
    between 9-1-1 and the police so we also
  • 00:17:07
    recommended that the city make the the
  • 00:17:11
    service available via a separate number
  • 00:17:14
    that isn't 9-1-1 you know fast forward a
  • 00:17:16
    couple years and George Floyd was
  • 00:17:18
    murdered and then you know Regis
  • 00:17:20
    korchinski Paquette mysteriously fell
  • 00:17:22
    out of a balcony and then there were
  • 00:17:24
    some other high profile folks who ended
  • 00:17:27
    up dying uh you know during Wellness
  • 00:17:29
    checks here in here in Canada and uh so
  • 00:17:32
    I guess all of these things kind of
  • 00:17:35
    combine to open people's eyes to uh you
  • 00:17:38
    know that maybe change needs to happen
  • 00:17:40
    in society in general I think when folks
  • 00:17:44
    started to die during Wellness checks it
  • 00:17:46
    really opened the Public's eyes to that
  • 00:17:48
    one folks who are in mental health
  • 00:17:51
    distress are maybe not the folks who are
  • 00:17:53
    dangerous and maybe they're in danger
  • 00:17:54
    and two I think what it really did was
  • 00:17:57
    help people realize just how serious
  • 00:17:59
    these situations are and especially
  • 00:18:02
    because though maybe not everyone talks
  • 00:18:04
    about it but I would think most people
  • 00:18:06
    in society know somebody who has
  • 00:18:08
    experienced a high level of mental
  • 00:18:10
    health challenges and so there was that
  • 00:18:13
    kind of personal touch and personal
  • 00:18:16
    investment in buying that folks had too
  • 00:18:18
    because they didn't want to see their
  • 00:18:20
    friends or or their Partners or their
  • 00:18:22
    family members or you know maybe even
  • 00:18:24
    themselves be harmed during an
  • 00:18:27
    interaction when they were in distress
  • 00:18:28
    just heard a lot of stories about
  • 00:18:30
    people's experiences with interactions
  • 00:18:32
    with the police or with other emergency
  • 00:18:34
    services and that really led me to
  • 00:18:37
    understand that we need alternative
  • 00:18:39
    models to be able to provide support to
  • 00:18:41
    these folks and also for me as a service
  • 00:18:42
    provider
  • 00:18:44
    I didn't ever want to be in a position
  • 00:18:47
    where someone was at imminent risk of
  • 00:18:49
    suicide and I felt like I needed to
  • 00:18:51
    contact emergency services to keep them
  • 00:18:53
    safe but also knowing that the people
  • 00:18:55
    that I was calling might be stigmatizing
  • 00:18:59
    or traumatizing for the people that I'm
  • 00:19:02
    trying to help I I as a worker wanted
  • 00:19:05
    other options I think what we've helped
  • 00:19:08
    to do is shift that perception to help
  • 00:19:11
    the public and and even politicians and
  • 00:19:14
    those who are in in those kinds of Power
  • 00:19:16
    positions
  • 00:19:18
    see
  • 00:19:19
    this issue through a different lens and
  • 00:19:22
    see it through the lens of these folks
  • 00:19:24
    who are experiencing mental health
  • 00:19:25
    distress they really really need support
  • 00:19:28
    and the highest level of support that we
  • 00:19:30
    can give them so I really feel like now
  • 00:19:33
    there's more compassion and a lot more
  • 00:19:35
    understanding and a lot more curiosity
  • 00:19:38
    around what we can do better to help
  • 00:19:40
    yeah you know uh so the city of Toronto
  • 00:19:43
    has these new pilot programs where you
  • 00:19:45
    know instead of the police crisis
  • 00:19:47
    workers Etc will be the folks showing up
  • 00:19:50
    on the scene and you know it's it's it's
  • 00:19:53
    it's still kind of in the in the
  • 00:19:56
    building phases so we don't exactly know
  • 00:19:58
    what it's going to look like yet but for
  • 00:20:00
    me the positive is that now we're going
  • 00:20:02
    to be moving closer toward you know what
  • 00:20:05
    we all desire I think which is to help
  • 00:20:07
    people who need help as they need it and
  • 00:20:09
    to give them the best help we can get uh
  • 00:20:11
    so for me I'm excited I think it's the
  • 00:20:13
    first step but with anything new I also
  • 00:20:15
    think that you know we kind of have to
  • 00:20:17
    take our time and we have to take a look
  • 00:20:19
    at it as it goes along and you know
  • 00:20:21
    we're gonna have to make modifications
  • 00:20:22
    the biggest barrier to building these
  • 00:20:25
    kinds of services is people's perception
  • 00:20:27
    that these kinds of Mental Health crisis
  • 00:20:29
    calls are dangerous and violent and we
  • 00:20:32
    know from the data that that's just not
  • 00:20:35
    true we know that 89 of Mental Health
  • 00:20:37
    crisis calls in Ontario do not involve
  • 00:20:40
    any type of violence any risk of any
  • 00:20:42
    risk of violence or any weapons
  • 00:20:43
    whatsoever and those are calls that are
  • 00:20:45
    very easy to just send them to
  • 00:20:47
    mental health workers Mental Health
  • 00:20:49
    crisis is a Health crisis it's not a
  • 00:20:51
    crime very unlikely to be violent and
  • 00:20:53
    the right people to respond to a mental
  • 00:20:55
    health crisis our Mental Health crisis
  • 00:20:56
    workers I've seen a lot of people get
  • 00:20:58
    hurt I've seen a lot of people not
  • 00:21:00
    receive what they need I've seen people
  • 00:21:02
    end up in a spiral of you know sick
  • 00:21:05
    Hospital thicker Hospital thickest
  • 00:21:08
    hospital and then suicide right so you
  • 00:21:11
    know I just want to help stop that cycle
  • 00:21:13
    and I want to start seeing sick get help
  • 00:21:17
    get better
  • 00:21:18
    so for me that's what it's all about
  • 00:21:38
    Samia team was described by his friends
  • 00:21:41
    as a sweet skinny teenager with bright
  • 00:21:43
    green eyes he grew up with a sister in a
  • 00:21:46
    middle-class Christian family in Aleppo
  • 00:21:48
    Syria
  • 00:21:49
    Samia team planned to study Health
  • 00:21:51
    Services management at George Brown
  • 00:21:53
    College in the coming fall
  • 00:21:55
    according to his family he did not have
  • 00:21:57
    any mental illnesses or drug issues
  • 00:21:59
    your team took out a knife on A
  • 00:22:01
    Streetcar
  • 00:22:02
    no one was hurt and all the passengers
  • 00:22:04
    were able to exit the streetcar on
  • 00:22:06
    Dundas Street near Grace Street
  • 00:22:08
    yatim stood by himself at the front of
  • 00:22:10
    the streetcar as officers surrounded him
  • 00:22:12
    then nine shots were fired and the taser
  • 00:22:15
    was deployed
  • 00:22:16
    Samia team's death shook Toronto in the
  • 00:22:19
    summer of 2013. doing research on sami's
  • 00:22:22
    story it was documented that the last
  • 00:22:24
    thing Samia team told his best friend
  • 00:22:26
    Sasha was don't forget me out there
  • 00:22:29
    while filming it started to rain and
  • 00:22:31
    right before we left this appeared I
  • 00:22:34
    like to believe there was a sign
  • 00:22:35
    standing a team sending us a message
  • 00:22:38
    you haven't been forgotten about
  • 00:22:45
    [Music]
  • 00:22:54
    [Music]
  • 00:22:56
    I spoke to Frank yakubuchi a former
  • 00:22:59
    Supreme Court justice of Canada
  • 00:23:01
    in 2014 he wrote an influential
  • 00:23:03
    independent report called police
  • 00:23:06
    encounters with people in crisis
  • 00:23:07
    commissioned by the Toronto police
  • 00:23:10
    he made 84 recommendations including
  • 00:23:12
    that the police should have a goal of
  • 00:23:13
    zero deaths a goal of no lethal Force
  • 00:23:16
    the implementation of body cameras the
  • 00:23:19
    creation of a police and mental health
  • 00:23:21
    oversight body and to require new
  • 00:23:23
    constables to complete a Mental Health
  • 00:23:24
    First Aid course we spoke in his
  • 00:23:27
    backyard about what he learned on the
  • 00:23:28
    topic of how the police could improve
  • 00:23:30
    seven years ago and we looked into how
  • 00:23:32
    he views the topic all these years later
  • 00:23:36
    I was asked to do this review
  • 00:23:39
    the reason being I think it would it
  • 00:23:42
    came out of the Samia team
  • 00:23:45
    uh tragedy
  • 00:23:47
    and there's no doubt of that that was
  • 00:23:49
    the uh you know the the major reason
  • 00:23:53
    there was pressure
  • 00:23:56
    on uh all sorts of uh people
  • 00:24:01
    particularly the police
  • 00:24:03
    and you really have to speak to a lot of
  • 00:24:06
    people which we did
  • 00:24:08
    um
  • 00:24:09
    on all sides of the issue
  • 00:24:16
    report and
  • 00:24:19
    I was surprised because the
  • 00:24:23
    Chief Blair said in that police Gods we
  • 00:24:26
    intend to adopt all his recommendation
  • 00:24:30
    um
  • 00:24:32
    that was of course a form of music to
  • 00:24:35
    one's ears to have that uh
  • 00:24:39
    reaction
  • 00:24:41
    we were told many many times by
  • 00:24:43
    different people while this is going to
  • 00:24:45
    happen you know
  • 00:24:47
    people are gonna die people are going to
  • 00:24:49
    be injured
  • 00:24:51
    and I just
  • 00:24:53
    thought to have the wrong
  • 00:24:55
    goal the goal for me was Zero
  • 00:24:59
    zero deaths
  • 00:25:01
    if you start off with saying well we're
  • 00:25:03
    going to have
  • 00:25:05
    we're going to have fatalities
  • 00:25:09
    you will have fatalities
  • 00:25:11
    that gets in the to me gets into the
  • 00:25:14
    mindset of those who are involved in
  • 00:25:18
    these so I
  • 00:25:20
    uh kept saying why can't we why can't we
  • 00:25:27
    strive to say our goal is to implement
  • 00:25:32
    policies and execute
  • 00:25:35
    appropriately to
  • 00:25:38
    reflect our goal of zero deaths one of
  • 00:25:42
    the great disappointments I had in
  • 00:25:43
    during the review
  • 00:25:45
    was that I had no one bit from if you
  • 00:25:48
    like the Department of Health
  • 00:25:50
    and
  • 00:25:52
    sort of related
  • 00:25:54
    us
  • 00:25:55
    you know responsibilities the minister
  • 00:25:59
    of Health Department didn't
  • 00:26:02
    I sent letters would someone please be
  • 00:26:05
    willing to talk to us from their
  • 00:26:07
    perspective because hospitals are the
  • 00:26:09
    ones that receive these people
  • 00:26:12
    as you know they they they're taken
  • 00:26:15
    there and have to be
  • 00:26:17
    examined by a doctor in order to be kept
  • 00:26:21
    otherwise the person was let go and
  • 00:26:23
    quite often their captain and they're
  • 00:26:24
    released and then they started all over
  • 00:26:26
    a revolving door we wanted to get that
  • 00:26:29
    perspective we didn't we had to get it
  • 00:26:31
    through other we uh the other they would
  • 00:26:33
    they did not show up and that was a
  • 00:26:36
    disappointment
  • 00:26:38
    because the report was not out
  • 00:26:41
    to get the police so and to be
  • 00:26:44
    unrealistic and to be disrespectful and
  • 00:26:47
    and I think the police community
  • 00:26:51
    was
  • 00:26:53
    had a very meaningful
  • 00:26:55
    reaction to me because they they saw
  • 00:26:59
    what I was recommending was a lot of
  • 00:27:02
    things for them to do but they welcomed
  • 00:27:04
    them
  • 00:27:04
    that that was me very meaningful
  • 00:27:07
    but the subject matter
  • 00:27:10
    that is of greatest importance is the
  • 00:27:13
    use of force
  • 00:27:15
    as far as the police are concerned
  • 00:27:17
    but there were a lot of
  • 00:27:19
    components to that so the use of force
  • 00:27:24
    is
  • 00:27:26
    um
  • 00:27:27
    you know it it's a last resort it it is
  • 00:27:31
    zero deaths you know that kind of all of
  • 00:27:34
    those things that enter into that
  • 00:27:37
    equation of uh and that subject of but
  • 00:27:41
    it is
  • 00:27:43
    going to the root of the matter we don't
  • 00:27:45
    want
  • 00:27:47
    life-threatening results we don't want
  • 00:27:50
    life and the results
  • 00:27:53
    uh
  • 00:27:54
    we want to
  • 00:27:58
    be hopefully
  • 00:28:01
    if it's a first episode
  • 00:28:04
    one that can lead to
  • 00:28:06
    treatment and and Recovery
  • 00:28:10
    for the individual and there's been some
  • 00:28:11
    they've been happy stories of that kind
  • 00:28:16
    the major message of a report like that
  • 00:28:19
    is that you
  • 00:28:21
    this is not
  • 00:28:23
    it's never over
  • 00:28:25
    it will never be over
  • 00:28:27
    there will always be and
  • 00:28:30
    an evolution it's a moving picture not a
  • 00:28:34
    photograph
  • 00:28:35
    and that is what I hope has been
  • 00:28:39
    accepted
  • 00:28:43
    looking inwards also requires looking
  • 00:28:46
    outside of yourselves
  • 00:28:48
    that's why I wanted to speak with a
  • 00:28:49
    crisis worker who has shown that
  • 00:28:51
    alternatives to police response is
  • 00:28:52
    possible
  • 00:28:53
    I spoke with Chelsea Swift from Eugene
  • 00:28:56
    Oregon in the United States who works
  • 00:28:58
    for an organization called cahoots
  • 00:29:00
    kahoot stands for crisis assistance
  • 00:29:03
    helping out on the streets and it's a
  • 00:29:05
    community initiative that began in 1989.
  • 00:29:08
    to understand what is possible when it
  • 00:29:09
    comes to mental health response I wanted
  • 00:29:11
    to learn what's taking place in other
  • 00:29:13
    communities
  • 00:29:15
    for someone who might not know what
  • 00:29:17
    Cahoots is how would you explain to them
  • 00:29:19
    what Cahoots does
  • 00:29:20
    we have the ability to take a lot of
  • 00:29:23
    time on our calls and we have the
  • 00:29:26
    ability to get really really creative
  • 00:29:30
    when a police officer shows up to a
  • 00:29:34
    scene they have
  • 00:29:36
    pretty limited options
  • 00:29:38
    traditionally of
  • 00:29:41
    um you know no action jail or hospital
  • 00:29:44
    an ambulance shows up they have the
  • 00:29:46
    option of resolving the field or
  • 00:29:49
    Hospital
  • 00:29:51
    we are going to call friends and see if
  • 00:29:55
    people can come over and offer support
  • 00:29:57
    connect people with their therapist to
  • 00:30:00
    make sure they have that appointment
  • 00:30:02
    that made them anxious today
  • 00:30:04
    so that we can prevent further Public
  • 00:30:06
    Safety context we can bring people to
  • 00:30:09
    the hospital but when we do that we're
  • 00:30:11
    gonna
  • 00:30:12
    Advocate at triage we're going to hang
  • 00:30:14
    out with them in the waiting room if
  • 00:30:16
    they are really struggling
  • 00:30:19
    um we can transport people to
  • 00:30:22
    it's limited but at least we have these
  • 00:30:25
    services like a sobering center shelter
  • 00:30:28
    day centers youth crisis centers so we
  • 00:30:31
    are showing up with a variety of options
  • 00:30:35
    of how a call can end and also a variety
  • 00:30:38
    of ways we can respond because what's
  • 00:30:40
    really important to the Cahoots model
  • 00:30:42
    that I really hope gets held on to in
  • 00:30:45
    other places in the world looking at
  • 00:30:47
    alternative Public Safety response is
  • 00:30:50
    that we always have a crisis worker and
  • 00:30:52
    a medic
  • 00:30:53
    so the medic is at least an EMT basic
  • 00:30:56
    which is here like um a three-month
  • 00:31:00
    program is pretty accessible that's like
  • 00:31:02
    the formal education requirement for
  • 00:31:05
    that role we also have some paramedics
  • 00:31:07
    some nurses who work with us and then
  • 00:31:10
    with our crisis worker role
  • 00:31:12
    that's a little more open-ended we look
  • 00:31:14
    for people who have a couple of years of
  • 00:31:17
    experience in mental health Street
  • 00:31:19
    Outreach harm reduction we also have
  • 00:31:22
    people who are really wonderful because
  • 00:31:25
    they've had to work at like bars
  • 00:31:27
    downtown and do conflict de-escalation
  • 00:31:30
    in those settings
  • 00:31:32
    um we do not have a formal higher
  • 00:31:35
    education requirement for our crisis
  • 00:31:37
    worker roles and I think that is really
  • 00:31:39
    crucial in having on
  • 00:31:43
    really humble and accessible services
  • 00:31:46
    but also for us to be able to hire
  • 00:31:49
    people who are even
  • 00:31:51
    coming with non-traditional experience
  • 00:31:53
    and ideals in the mental health system
  • 00:31:57
    itself
  • 00:31:58
    what do you believe is the biggest
  • 00:31:59
    difference in kahoots's model of crisis
  • 00:32:01
    response compared to armed police
  • 00:32:03
    officers responding to Mental Health
  • 00:32:04
    crisis calls
  • 00:32:07
    most people
  • 00:32:10
    even being around police even thinking
  • 00:32:13
    oh I might have to interact with them
  • 00:32:14
    you are starting to negotiate what power
  • 00:32:18
    is going to be taken away and what
  • 00:32:20
    impacts is that going to have on the
  • 00:32:22
    rest of my life I don't get paid a lot
  • 00:32:25
    on kahoots if I got a ticket for having
  • 00:32:27
    a headlight out I would be broke until
  • 00:32:30
    my next paycheck so even those those
  • 00:32:33
    Economic Consequences alone are enough
  • 00:32:35
    for me to fear police even though it's
  • 00:32:39
    highly likely likely an officer that
  • 00:32:41
    pulls me over I would know them by name
  • 00:32:44
    so as long as police are responding
  • 00:32:49
    and have handcuffs and have a weapon and
  • 00:32:54
    have the ability to take someone's
  • 00:32:57
    stability in life away with even
  • 00:32:59
    something as simple as a ticket or one
  • 00:33:02
    night in jail that is going to affect
  • 00:33:05
    the rest of someone's life and just kind
  • 00:33:09
    of going back to that that power Dynamic
  • 00:33:12
    is what creates
  • 00:33:14
    violence and
  • 00:33:16
    um apathy or fear or over politeness are
  • 00:33:20
    people lying and saying they're okay
  • 00:33:22
    when they're not because of the whole
  • 00:33:24
    time they are interacting with a police
  • 00:33:25
    officer they are having to worry about
  • 00:33:28
    consequence and punishment or just
  • 00:33:31
    having to do something against their
  • 00:33:32
    will even if it's supposed to be in
  • 00:33:34
    service to them
  • 00:33:36
    those interactions cannot will never be
  • 00:33:39
    therapeutic what are your thoughts of
  • 00:33:42
    when people question the safety of
  • 00:33:43
    unarmed crisis workers yes another
  • 00:33:47
    question I think about all the time so
  • 00:33:51
    I think
  • 00:33:55
    there's a lot there there is a lot of
  • 00:33:58
    stigma of course that people who are in
  • 00:34:01
    crisis are violent there are a lot of
  • 00:34:05
    identities and cultures and communities
  • 00:34:08
    and especially by clock communities who
  • 00:34:10
    are inherently perceived as being more
  • 00:34:14
    violent
  • 00:34:16
    of course we know that those communities
  • 00:34:18
    interact with police and Public Safety
  • 00:34:21
    and carceral systems more so at Baseline
  • 00:34:24
    like racism classism
  • 00:34:27
    marginalization stigma gets us there
  • 00:34:30
    where people just assume that a crisis
  • 00:34:33
    team would be interacting with a more
  • 00:34:36
    violent population at Baseline
  • 00:34:39
    and then there's the piece of like so
  • 00:34:42
    because of that how could people
  • 00:34:43
    possibly show up unarmed or without
  • 00:34:46
    being able to detain someone physically
  • 00:34:49
    restrain someone on how is that possible
  • 00:34:52
    for me that is we have
  • 00:34:57
    who's has operated for 32 years we we've
  • 00:35:00
    never had a serious injury on our team
  • 00:35:02
    not just in the year where we handle 24
  • 00:35:05
    000 calls in the last 32 years no one
  • 00:35:08
    has ever been seriously harmed and keep
  • 00:35:11
    in mind like those 24
  • 00:35:13
    000 calls were 18 of Public Safety calls
  • 00:35:16
    that came through our dispatch system in
  • 00:35:18
    Eugene in 2019 where there is no serious
  • 00:35:22
    injury to Cahoots worker and that is
  • 00:35:25
    because we show up unarmed so the exact
  • 00:35:28
    like Paradox that people are trying to
  • 00:35:31
    solve that we would need weapons to be
  • 00:35:34
    safe I can say from all sincere
  • 00:35:37
    experience that it is because we are
  • 00:35:41
    neutral and we're not equal we still
  • 00:35:45
    have power we are still
  • 00:35:47
    Gatekeepers to use that word for
  • 00:35:49
    resources we are still making the
  • 00:35:52
    recommendation or not that somebody can
  • 00:35:54
    go to the ER we may not have any shelter
  • 00:35:58
    options in town on a rainy night in the
  • 00:36:01
    middle of winter and someone might see
  • 00:36:03
    us as
  • 00:36:04
    you have to have that how are you not
  • 00:36:07
    able to provide that
  • 00:36:09
    um we are bringing in a power Dynamic
  • 00:36:12
    but we are not bringing at definition a
  • 00:36:17
    punitive one
  • 00:36:22
    [Music]
  • 00:36:28
    [Music]
  • 00:36:32
    could have all the gold in the world but
  • 00:36:35
    can't bring you back that's what Regis
  • 00:36:38
    whichat's brother ree sang in a song
  • 00:36:40
    made in tribute of his sister she was an
  • 00:36:43
    active kid growing up Regis often needed
  • 00:36:46
    nighttime car rides to fall asleep
  • 00:36:48
    she was a talented gymnast and Dancer
  • 00:36:51
    during her school years she also
  • 00:36:53
    participated in events at her local
  • 00:36:54
    church Regis what you see the cat was
  • 00:36:57
    proud of her Black Nova scotian
  • 00:36:59
    indigenous and Ukrainian roots
  • 00:37:01
    as she grew up within her family group
  • 00:37:03
    chat she was the first to post every day
  • 00:37:05
    with an upbeat message saying good
  • 00:37:07
    morning I love you seven years ago she
  • 00:37:10
    was diagnosed with epilepsy
  • 00:37:13
    after Regis would have seizures she
  • 00:37:15
    would experience drowsiness confusion
  • 00:37:17
    migraines and other disorienting
  • 00:37:19
    symptoms
  • 00:37:21
    on several occasions Regis experienced
  • 00:37:23
    psychiatric crises that required
  • 00:37:25
    hospital visits a family would
  • 00:37:28
    occasionally contact the police to help
  • 00:37:29
    when she was having a seizure due to
  • 00:37:31
    epilepsy
  • 00:37:33
    on May 27th of 2020 Regis had a seizure
  • 00:37:36
    the police came to their home after
  • 00:37:39
    being called for domestic disturbance
  • 00:37:41
    Claudette regis's mother pleaded with
  • 00:37:43
    the police to provide assistance to her
  • 00:37:45
    daughter and take her to camh to provide
  • 00:37:47
    mental health support
  • 00:37:49
    once police arrived at the apartment two
  • 00:37:52
    officers blocked korchinski Paquette
  • 00:37:54
    from getting to her mother and brother
  • 00:37:56
    they eventually let Regis back into the
  • 00:37:58
    apartment so she could use the bathroom
  • 00:38:00
    Regis then went out onto the 24th floor
  • 00:38:03
    balcony and prevented officers from
  • 00:38:04
    reaching her by holding her body against
  • 00:38:06
    the door
  • 00:38:08
    according to police documents she then
  • 00:38:10
    tried to scale the balcony and cross
  • 00:38:11
    onto the next door which was when she
  • 00:38:13
    lost her balance
  • 00:38:15
    she fell 24 floors
  • 00:38:20
    in the aftermath her Father Peter said
  • 00:38:23
    I've seen the mayor and the police chief
  • 00:38:25
    just referred to as a 29 year old woman
  • 00:38:27
    her name is Regis just say it
  • 00:38:33
    in the song I spoke about regis's
  • 00:38:35
    brother said light a candle for my
  • 00:38:37
    sister make it last
  • 00:38:55
    [Music]
  • 00:39:29
    for me and for many people from Toronto
  • 00:39:31
    basketball is much more than a game
  • 00:39:33
    Asante Haughton took us back to a
  • 00:39:36
    basketball court near his childhood home
  • 00:39:37
    which is Meaningful in his experience
  • 00:39:39
    with his own mental health Journey
  • 00:39:41
    he opened up about why having the police
  • 00:39:43
    act as First Responders to mental health
  • 00:39:45
    distress acted as a barrier for getting
  • 00:39:47
    help in his own family growing up
  • 00:39:49
    this is part of asante's story
  • 00:39:54
    oh man so growing up you know we never
  • 00:39:57
    wanted to get help for our what we were
  • 00:40:01
    experiencing myself personally others in
  • 00:40:03
    my family with respect to mental health
  • 00:40:05
    because we knew that you know the only
  • 00:40:08
    option was to call 9-1-1 and then police
  • 00:40:10
    officers show up right and one police
  • 00:40:12
    officers often don't really have the
  • 00:40:15
    tools to be able to de-escalate and
  • 00:40:17
    support people when they're in high
  • 00:40:18
    distress and they don't necessarily know
  • 00:40:20
    what to do either and it's not always
  • 00:40:22
    because they're bad people it's just
  • 00:40:24
    that's not what they're trained for and
  • 00:40:25
    that's not you know what their jobs are
  • 00:40:27
    you know supposed to be
  • 00:40:29
    right that's one thing
  • 00:40:32
    um the other piece of it is you know
  • 00:40:33
    when you live in a neighborhood that has
  • 00:40:35
    a lot of community violence and you know
  • 00:40:37
    other kind of elements of that nature
  • 00:40:40
    going on police show up to your door you
  • 00:40:42
    know once or twice or three times or
  • 00:40:44
    whatever it kind of puts a Target on
  • 00:40:45
    your back right you know other folks in
  • 00:40:48
    the neighborhood might look at you like
  • 00:40:49
    hey all these people with a police are
  • 00:40:51
    always coming to their door and
  • 00:40:52
    especially because we were so isolated
  • 00:40:55
    as a family no one really knew what was
  • 00:40:57
    going on you know that kind of added
  • 00:41:00
    this era of you know I don't know you'll
  • 00:41:02
    probably call it mystery but uh maybe
  • 00:41:05
    skepticism from others in the community
  • 00:41:07
    so that as well made us not want to call
  • 00:41:10
    9-1-1 because
  • 00:41:12
    uh you know we just didn't want to feel
  • 00:41:15
    an extra level of stress or or threat or
  • 00:41:18
    stigma from our community
  • 00:41:21
    oh it's amazing to come back here all
  • 00:41:23
    these years later uh I mean one I'm
  • 00:41:25
    flooded with foreign memories but two
  • 00:41:27
    it's it it really brings me back to
  • 00:41:30
    where I was
  • 00:41:31
    and to come back here as a healthy and
  • 00:41:34
    successful person it just makes me feel
  • 00:41:37
    like everything has come full circle and
  • 00:41:40
    now I'm in such a different place that
  • 00:41:42
    uh I could you know maybe support others
  • 00:41:45
    uh in you know in the community or
  • 00:41:49
    others from communities that are similar
  • 00:41:50
    to this one
  • 00:41:52
    um because I know that the support
  • 00:41:53
    wasn't here and for me to come back I
  • 00:41:55
    could say okay hey I made it out I can
  • 00:41:58
    come back and maybe I can offer some
  • 00:41:59
    support but at the same time you know I
  • 00:42:01
    was able to go through my stuff and uh
  • 00:42:04
    you know lucky enough to move through my
  • 00:42:08
    challenges and be here today to know
  • 00:42:11
    that my life has come full circle
  • 00:42:13
    [Music]
  • 00:42:22
    change happens when pressure becomes
  • 00:42:24
    impossible to ignore
  • 00:42:26
    after years of effort the city is taking
  • 00:42:28
    a major step towards changing how they
  • 00:42:30
    respond to Mental Health crisis
  • 00:42:32
    starting in April 2022 a new pilot
  • 00:42:35
    program will be starting in Toronto now
  • 00:42:38
    when a mental health crisis call comes
  • 00:42:40
    to 9-1-1 a team consisting of two people
  • 00:42:42
    a harm reduction worker and a nurse will
  • 00:42:44
    be the ones responding in non-violent
  • 00:42:46
    calls
  • 00:42:47
    the city of Toronto has plans to
  • 00:42:49
    implement the program across the whole
  • 00:42:51
    city if I ever find myself in a mental
  • 00:42:53
    health crisis again there will be
  • 00:42:55
    options to respond other than the police
  • 00:42:58
    I spoke with the person in charge of
  • 00:42:59
    creating this new program Denise
  • 00:43:01
    Campbell over zoomed before the new
  • 00:43:03
    program launches
  • 00:43:05
    it's certainly Toronto like the rest of
  • 00:43:09
    the world we're watching uh the growing
  • 00:43:13
    movement for racial Justice that came as
  • 00:43:17
    a result of the deaths of George Floyd
  • 00:43:20
    and Regis kochinski Paquette here in
  • 00:43:23
    Toronto in May of 2020 and city council
  • 00:43:28
    met in June 2020 to consider what could
  • 00:43:32
    the city of Toronto do in response to uh
  • 00:43:37
    to This Global movement and Council
  • 00:43:39
    adopted 36 recommendations
  • 00:43:42
    to create changes in policing here in
  • 00:43:45
    Toronto and one primary of those
  • 00:43:49
    directions was to create an alternative
  • 00:43:51
    response
  • 00:43:52
    to uh for responding to mental health
  • 00:43:57
    um mental health uh crises here in
  • 00:44:00
    Toronto and so I was charged to make
  • 00:44:03
    that so uh so we began a really quick
  • 00:44:07
    process of listening and learning uh to
  • 00:44:10
    come up with a model for Toronto
  • 00:44:12
    what has it been like for you Denise
  • 00:44:13
    being the one in charge of implementing
  • 00:44:15
    this new model of responding to Mental
  • 00:44:17
    Health crisis calls across the city ah
  • 00:44:21
    you know I have to say that this is one
  • 00:44:23
    of the most important things
  • 00:44:25
    um that I believe I will ever do in my
  • 00:44:27
    career and so when this first started I
  • 00:44:31
    have to admit that there was a certain
  • 00:44:33
    level of Terror I felt a certain level
  • 00:44:35
    of Terror about it because of its
  • 00:44:37
    importance and I think it's the kind of
  • 00:44:39
    Terror that comes from understanding how
  • 00:44:42
    important this moment is how long people
  • 00:44:44
    have waited for an alternative that they
  • 00:44:47
    can trust and feel safe how urgent it is
  • 00:44:51
    um and that we get one shot at doing
  • 00:44:52
    this rate and so you know I assembled a
  • 00:44:56
    really smart passionate team of people
  • 00:44:58
    and we started looking around the world
  • 00:45:00
    and listening deeply to torontonians and
  • 00:45:03
    I think the more that we learned in some
  • 00:45:06
    ways the more huge and Monumental the
  • 00:45:09
    tasks became
  • 00:45:11
    um but I'm so proud of our work and I
  • 00:45:14
    think that pride in seeing how well we
  • 00:45:18
    listen to people and how much we've
  • 00:45:20
    learned from others to try to do better
  • 00:45:22
    in Toronto has fortified me in all those
  • 00:45:26
    moments where
  • 00:45:28
    um I've really had to defend the
  • 00:45:31
    recommendations that we have created or
  • 00:45:35
    search for the resources or juggle the
  • 00:45:40
    nuances of the many actors in the system
  • 00:45:43
    that the city does not control but need
  • 00:45:45
    in order to get this right
  • 00:45:48
    um and you know I I'm constantly
  • 00:45:52
    um grounded I guess in that core
  • 00:45:56
    principle that we heard so clearly at
  • 00:45:58
    the beginning of this that we need to do
  • 00:46:00
    better and we need to do no harm
  • 00:46:03
    what are some of the outcomes that the
  • 00:46:04
    community Crisis Support Service program
  • 00:46:06
    that your leading hopes to achieve in
  • 00:46:08
    its work so we we are trying to build
  • 00:46:12
    um and Achieve three things in the new
  • 00:46:14
    community Crisis Support Service first
  • 00:46:16
    and foremost we want to ensure that
  • 00:46:18
    torontonians and their loved ones are
  • 00:46:20
    supported through a mental health crisis
  • 00:46:22
    with the right kinds of services and
  • 00:46:24
    supports that's job one we also want to
  • 00:46:28
    obviously reduce police interactions
  • 00:46:30
    with people in crisis so we are creating
  • 00:46:32
    a health health response for a health
  • 00:46:35
    situation and then finally we want to be
  • 00:46:38
    able to reduce the ER visits
  • 00:46:42
    um that a lot of people have had to
  • 00:46:44
    endure as they fall through they fall
  • 00:46:47
    into crisis and we want to ensure that
  • 00:46:49
    we do that by again connecting them to
  • 00:46:52
    other health and community supports if
  • 00:46:55
    we do those three things I think we will
  • 00:46:57
    have done our jobs
  • 00:46:58
    what further development and
  • 00:47:00
    opportunities do you see on the horizon
  • 00:47:02
    for advancing mental health care in
  • 00:47:03
    Toronto through your learnings well I
  • 00:47:05
    would definitely say that through this
  • 00:47:08
    work we have been
  • 00:47:11
    um
  • 00:47:12
    calling loudly to the province and to
  • 00:47:15
    the federal government to become
  • 00:47:17
    Partners in building out a mental health
  • 00:47:19
    response and that
  • 00:47:23
    all of these efforts that we're trying
  • 00:47:25
    to do requires them to actively
  • 00:47:28
    participate and so we hope that they're
  • 00:47:31
    listening and we're going to continue at
  • 00:47:33
    it so I you know I think that's a really
  • 00:47:35
    important
  • 00:47:36
    um part of the work that we're doing
  • 00:47:39
    um and you know in this work directly we
  • 00:47:43
    are I'm proud that in the model that we
  • 00:47:45
    have we are creating our own little bit
  • 00:47:48
    of investment so that we can add
  • 00:47:50
    counseling and crisis beds
  • 00:47:53
    um and other supports um into the system
  • 00:47:55
    even though we're not going to be able
  • 00:47:57
    to build the system by ourselves but at
  • 00:47:59
    least again we're walking our talk
  • 00:48:01
    um by ensuring that we're investing in
  • 00:48:03
    that system as well
  • 00:48:06
    um you know and I I think this is also
  • 00:48:08
    an opportunity
  • 00:48:10
    um to work differently with police to
  • 00:48:13
    take the pressure of mental health
  • 00:48:15
    response off of the shoulders of police
  • 00:48:17
    because that's not what they're trained
  • 00:48:20
    to do and free them up to do what
  • 00:48:22
    they're better to do and if we can
  • 00:48:25
    achieve that again I think that this
  • 00:48:27
    would be extraordinary and that's what
  • 00:48:29
    we're set out to do
  • 00:48:31
    Denise is there anything else that you'd
  • 00:48:32
    like to say before we conclude this
  • 00:48:34
    interview
  • 00:48:35
    the only thing to add
  • 00:48:42
    had been one of those staff who get to
  • 00:48:45
    lead groundbreaking
  • 00:48:47
    um strategies and efforts by the city to
  • 00:48:50
    create a more Equitable and safer City
  • 00:48:53
    and this is one of those things that um
  • 00:48:57
    in all my time that's tapped into the
  • 00:48:59
    sense of urgency and hope in a way that
  • 00:49:02
    I've I've really seen
  • 00:49:04
    um so people are hungry for it it's long
  • 00:49:07
    overdue and they expect us to do it
  • 00:49:10
    better and so that's a lot of pressure
  • 00:49:13
    um but it's the right kind of pressure
  • 00:49:16
    to make sure that we do this well and so
  • 00:49:20
    I am really Blown Away by the commitment
  • 00:49:23
    of torontonians and all the
  • 00:49:26
    um you know the parents the caregivers
  • 00:49:29
    the nurses
  • 00:49:31
    um people have just sent a flood of
  • 00:49:34
    calls and offers to help us think this
  • 00:49:37
    through
  • 00:49:38
    um to lend us their talents their
  • 00:49:40
    experience
  • 00:49:42
    um and I think that it feels like
  • 00:49:45
    everybody is trying to is behind us to
  • 00:49:48
    make this possible
  • 00:49:50
    um and to make it excellent
  • 00:49:52
    so that's exciting it's inspiring and
  • 00:49:55
    when things are difficult you know I
  • 00:49:57
    hold on to that and my team holds on to
  • 00:49:59
    that so I really want to thank
  • 00:50:01
    tolantonians for that inspiration and
  • 00:50:04
    sense of urgency
  • 00:50:04
    [Music]
  • 00:50:14
    oh
  • 00:50:15
    [Music]
  • 00:50:30
    a lot has changed since I began making
  • 00:50:32
    this film
  • 00:50:34
    I no longer live in this home and the
  • 00:50:36
    city that I live in is changing before
  • 00:50:37
    my eyes
  • 00:50:40
    I filmed this footage in 2019 when I
  • 00:50:42
    wanted to become open about my mental
  • 00:50:44
    health challenges publicly but I never
  • 00:50:45
    got around to putting it together
  • 00:50:46
    because I had to be hospitalized
  • 00:50:52
    I will always believe that one of the
  • 00:50:53
    greatest parts of this world is that we
  • 00:50:55
    can change it for the better
  • 00:51:00
    like anything truly worth having time is
  • 00:51:03
    needed
  • 00:51:08
    when a mental health crisis happens it
  • 00:51:10
    takes time to come back from it
  • 00:51:13
    I hope the future Generations don't need
  • 00:51:15
    to fear for their safety at their lowest
  • 00:51:19
    [Music]
  • 00:51:24
    this intersection needs to be a reminder
  • 00:51:26
    of a terrible memory but making this
  • 00:51:29
    film I now see it as a place of healing
  • 00:51:33
    I'm no longer that man who sat in
  • 00:51:36
    traffic but rather a Storyteller looking
  • 00:51:38
    to make an impact I want this film to
  • 00:51:40
    serve as a memory for those who weren't
  • 00:51:42
    as fortunate
  • 00:51:45
    my heart goes out to the families of
  • 00:51:47
    ijaz choudhary
  • 00:51:51
    [Music]
  • 00:51:53
    Albert Johnson
  • 00:51:58
    Samia team
  • 00:52:02
    and Regis where teams keep a cat and
  • 00:52:04
    anyone who has been heard during a
  • 00:52:06
    mental health crisis
  • 00:52:08
    moving on isn't always easy
  • 00:52:11
    I believe that to heal sometimes you
  • 00:52:13
    need to reflect try to move on and keep
  • 00:52:16
    moving forward
  • 00:52:20
    there have been people fighting this
  • 00:52:21
    battle much longer than me
  • 00:52:23
    like former mayor John Sewell
  • 00:52:27
    former Supreme Court Justice Frank
  • 00:52:29
    yakubuchi
  • 00:52:31
    Chelsea Swift from Eugene Oregon
  • 00:52:35
    as the city of Toronto moves forward it
  • 00:52:38
    symbolizes hope
  • 00:52:39
    hope the past systems won't repeat
  • 00:52:41
    itself
  • 00:52:42
    hope that we can build a better City
  • 00:52:44
    hope that we can create a better world
  • 00:52:46
    for the Next Generation
  • 00:52:49
    [Music]
  • 00:52:52
    deserve it
  • 00:52:57
    for me making this film was different
  • 00:52:59
    than any project I've taken on before
  • 00:53:02
    as a Storyteller I have to be willing to
  • 00:53:04
    tell my story if I expect others to open
  • 00:53:06
    up to me
  • 00:53:09
    as I passed the street that I grew up on
  • 00:53:11
    I hope that wherever I go next I'll be
  • 00:53:13
    safe if I ever find my mind playing
  • 00:53:15
    tricks on me again
  • 00:53:16
    [Music]
  • 00:53:22
    I believe that everyone has someone they
  • 00:53:24
    love
  • 00:53:25
    when we're at our lowest we deserve care
  • 00:53:27
    that's supportive and symbolizes how we
  • 00:53:29
    want our own family to be treated
  • 00:53:33
    I hope that this film symbolizes that
  • 00:53:35
    that change is possible
  • 00:53:37
    and for those who have experienced
  • 00:53:38
    Mental Health crisis and may feel low
  • 00:53:40
    know that better days are possible and
  • 00:53:42
    will come
  • 00:53:45
    I hope that towards the future one day
  • 00:53:47
    we'll look back and can't believe that
  • 00:53:48
    this is the way we used to respond to
  • 00:53:50
    people who need help
  • 00:53:53
    I believe that further progress is
  • 00:53:56
    possible
  • 00:53:56
    [Music]
  • 00:53:58
    in the end I want to make one thing very
  • 00:54:01
    clear
  • 00:54:02
    this film is not about me it's about us
  • 00:54:07
    [Music]
  • 00:54:32
    foreign
  • 00:54:36
    [Music]
  • 00:54:40
    foreign
  • 00:54:45
    [Music]
  • 00:55:05
    [Music]
  • 00:55:12
    [Music]
  • 00:55:19
    [Music]
  • 00:55:54
    foreign
  • 00:55:55
    [Music]
  • 00:56:06
    [Music]
Tags
  • mental health
  • police reform
  • crisis intervention
  • Toronto
  • community-based approach
  • public safety
  • empathy
  • systemic change
  • mental health advocacy
  • non-violent response