RCMP K-Div Real Time Operations Centre
FORT McMURRAY — The RCMP’s Real Time Operations Centre is working to add a mental health clinician to its team, expanding the support available to officers responding to mental health emergencies across Alberta.
The initiative represents the latest expansion of RTOC’s capabilities. A little more than a year ago, this newsroom toured the centre to examine how it provides real-time supervision, guidance and resources to RCMP members.
Inspector Chris Smiley, officer in charge of RTOC, said the clinician would be available to help officers assess and respond to calls involving mental health concerns.
“So if we can get that service in here, those members in the field can have access to that mental health clinician to help guide whatever they might be dealing with,” Smiley said.
Before taking command of RTOC in April, Smiley led the Regional Police and Crisis Team program in Alberta.
The program, known as RPACT, pairs mental health clinicians with RCMP members to respond to mental health calls in the community.
Smiley said those teams provide valuable support, but there are not enough to serve every Alberta detachment around the clock.
“Our teams in the field where we pair a clinician and a member up, those are great, but we do not have enough teams to run 24 hours, seven days a week for every detachment,” he said.
Placing a clinician at RTOC would give officers access to mental health expertise remotely, even when a joint police and clinician team is unavailable in their community.
The clinician could also help determine whether some calls can be resolved without sending an officer.
Smiley said a clinician may be able to speak with a person over the phone, connect them with existing community resources or provide other assistance before a call reaches the front line.
“But we also would like to divert some of those calls from ever having to go down to a member in their car if we can help it,” he said.
The proposed approach recognizes the overlap between policing and health care while reserving police resources for situations requiring an officer.
“It is a health emergency, so the police ideally shouldn’t be our first stop for those things,” Smiley said.
The RCMP hopes to bring the mental health support program into RTOC sometime this year.
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