'If you’re in cuffs you aren’t getting no help': Program teaming police with health professionals extended

Less than a year after launching as a pilot project, CTV News has learned that funding for London’s COAST team is being extended by its partner agencies until a permanent budget is secured.

Less than a year after launching as a pilot project, CTV News has learned that funding for London’s COAST team is being extended by its partner agencies until a permanent budget is secured.

The program that teams healthcare professionals with police officers to proactively address mental health calls is showing early success.

The Community Outreach and Support Team (COAST) launched last April as a partnership between London Police Service, Middlesex-London Paramedic Services , St. Joseph’s Healthcare London, and the Canadian Mental Health Association.

The program helps individuals who routinely find themselves in mental health or addiction crisis deescalate a situation before a traditional police response in necessary.

“If you’re in cuffs, you aren’t getting no help,” says Paul, who spoke with CTV News while walking in the Old East Village.

Paul has spent time at the Mission Services shelter and says having frontline police officers respond to a mental health or addiction crisis should be the last resort.

“If (London) goes about things with a different route, it would be better for everybody,” he explains.