(Montreal) The Sûreté du Québec will launch a mandatory training program next year to help its police officers intervene more effectively when they are dealing with a person suffering from psychological distress.
The police force hopes that this training will reduce the number of interventions ending in a fatal outcome.
Sergeant Dominique Éthier, use of force instructor, is helping to create this new program. According to him, we need to change the way we intervene in order to avoid confrontations and then ensure security, rather than the other way around.
The officer says this new training will help officers deal with their own stress and recognize situations involving people who are mentally unstable.
The measure is a consequence of the number of deaths that occurred during a police intervention. According to the Bureau du coroner du Québec, this number rises to 25.
Police officers will be required to complete a four-hour online training course that will introduce the stigma to mental health and how to build trusting relationships during a response.