Just nearly a month after launching the Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team (MCRRT) Peel Regional Police and partner, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Dufferin Peel, are celebrating the success of the program.

On Friday, Feb. 21, police hosted a media conference with CMHA to share how the program has progressed and to thank supporters.

Since January 2020, the MCRRT, a program that pairs police officers with crisis workers to address mental health emergencies, responded to 164 calls, according to police.

From those calls, 71 clients were formally referred to a crisis support centre, rather than being apprehended and then brought to hospital — around a 70 per cent deferral rate for hospital trips.