Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
South Simcoe Police Service, 81 Melbourne Drive, Bradford, ON, L3Z 1M2, Canada.
Community Ment Health J. 2021 Apr;57(3):567-578. doi: 10.1007/s10597-020-00683-8. Epub 2020 Jul 16.
The current study examines the impact of a recently implemented community-based Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST) in a small Canadian police service. COAST pairs a police officer from the South Simcoe Police Service in Ontario, Canada with a crisis response worker from either the Canadian Mental Health Association or York Support Services Network. Through a pre- versus post-implementation analysis, key outcome variables were examined. Results demonstrated that there were significant differences between general patrol and COAST in terms of time spent on crisis-related calls and this was associated with a reduced cost to the service. Additionally, compared to pre-implementation rates, the Service saw an increase in community resources provided to clients in need and a decrease in involuntary apprehensions. These initial findings provide some preliminary support for the value of the COAST initiative in the South Simcoe Police Service.
本研究考察了加拿大一个小型警察部门最近实施的基于社区的危机外展与支持小组（COAST）的影响。COAST 将加拿大安大略省南史米科警察局的一名警察与加拿大心理健康协会或约克支持服务网络的一名危机应对人员配对。通过实施前与实施后的分析，研究人员考察了关键的结果变量。结果表明，在与危机相关的呼叫上，普通巡逻队与 COAST 之间的时间投入存在显著差异，这与服务成本的降低有关。此外，与实施前的比率相比，该服务为有需要的客户提供的社区资源有所增加，非自愿逮捕的情况有所减少。这些初步发现为 COAST 倡议在南史米科警察局的价值提供了一些初步支持。
