91原创 Township will lobby the provincial government to enroll local RCMP in a program that pairs some officers with psychiatric nurses for mental health-related calls.

91原创 RCMP has been discussing a Mobile Integrated Crisis Response Team (MICR team) with Fraser Health since 2022, but the project has stalled. In the summer of 2023, the province expanded the MICR teams to Abbotsford, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Coquitlam, and other communities around B.C., but 91原创 was not on the list, according to a Township staff report.

On Monday, Dec. 18, Township council voted unanimously to try to get a local MICR program up and running.

Councillor Barb Martens, a former VPD officer, said that the local RCMP are ready to go 鈥� they have a mental health unit with three officers, and vehicles ready to carry a psychiatric nurse along with the police. It鈥檚 just a matter of other levels of government getting on board.

鈥淭hey are an excellent resource to respond to mental health calls,鈥� Martens said, noting the VPD had them as long as she was an officer there. 鈥淩ecognizing that while police are well trained in certain things, they aren鈥檛 well trained in mental health, and they require the assistance of a psychiatric nurse.鈥�

Councillors Kim Richter and Steve Ferguson asked about additional costs to the Township, but there won鈥檛 be any.

鈥淭he majority of the costs are borne by the other service providers,鈥� said Township chief administrative officer Mark Bakken. In this case, most of the cost would be to Fraser Health.

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