Being a police officer comes with a certain number of expectations - investigating tragedies, attending the scene of car accidents and interacting with criminals and victims. But Const. Arthur Wlodyka didn't expect he'd feel helpless while on the job.
Attending calls involving the same people, the same families over and over again and being unable to provide them with the resources or help they needed finally took its toll on him. He realized that in order to be an effective police department, New Westminster needed to develop a program that addressed the needs of those with mental health problems.
"One of the things I was really surprised to see - in just working on the streets - was just how frequently we deal with mental health issues and mental illness," he said. "I was under the idea that we'd be out chasing bad guys and arresting people and solving crime, that sort of thing, (but I) quickly realized that mental-health issues had become a huge part of policing and it didn't seem like we were delivering the most effective sort of service."
And so Wlodyka - who has been with the department for more than six years - set out to make a change in the way the department handled mental health related cases.
Starting this week, Wlodyka will be reporting to work as the mental health intervention coordinator for the department.
His main role will be as an added resource for the other officers as well as a liaison for the community. If any officers encounter situations where they suspect someone has a mental illness, the officers will contact Wlodyka who will come out to the scene to provide the individual with resources and options.
"Often times we were dealing with people who hadn't committed any crimes - families and stuff who called people in - just needing resources on a medical side of things," he said.
This is particularly important in New Westminster where there is a large population of "entrenched homeless people," Wlodyka said.
"(They) can take up a huge amount of police resources because people are coming across them every day in the community and seeing them . yelling and screaming and acting in a bizarre manner," he said.
Wlodyka said that police are often responding to numerous calls each day about the same individuals, which can be very troublesome for officers. As the mental health officer, it'll be up to Wlodyka to find ways of improving these interactions.
"That's definitely going to be a primary focus," he said. "(To) support and address their needs in an ongoing fashion to maybe prevent the escalation of their issues."
In order to do so, Wlodyka will be developing a database of resources for the department.
"I like to think of it as 'plugging in' to the whole mental health world and all of the different agencies and groups that are responsible," he said.
Wlodyka said the department can sometimes become limited in its scope - falling back on two options; either enforcing the law or enforcing the Mental Health Act.
However, there are a number of resources available to officers who encounter people with mental-health problems.
"There's numerous other resources that people can be directed to that maybe they weren't aware of," he said.
Wlodyka will be working with representatives from a number of organizations and groups to foster strong relationships between the police and community. One of the relationships he's most keen to get started on is with Royal Columbian Hospital. Officers who are called to help someone with an apparent mental illness have to wait with them at the hospital until they are officially turned over to a doctor, as required by the Mental Health Act, according to Wlodyka. Sometimes officers are waiting eight to 10 hours with the individual, taking resources away from the department, he said.
"We've been working really hard on our relationship with the hospital to try and streamline our procedure - and working relationship - to try and speed up that process and get officers back out on the road," he said.
This has been a big concern for the department, as well as city councillors who recently expressed unhappiness with the Fraser Health Authority.
At a council meeting in April, councillors discussed the authority's recent decision to cut funding for the Lookout Emergency Aid Society, which resulted in cuts to Cliff Block.
"Our streets are full of people with mental illness. It's a neglect of the system," said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr, in an earlier interview with The Record. "What's really shocking now is we are being offloaded - we are hiring a police officer who's doing what the Fraser Health Authority should be doing. We are instructed that often they will show up at the hospital with a patient, and they can't leave there. They are waiting eight to 10 hours for that patient to see a psychiatrist, so we are tying up a police officer for the entire shift, waiting to see someone from Fraser Health, from Royal Columbian Hospital. This is, again, an absolute slap in the face."
Mayor Wayne Wright agreed with Puchmayr and said the local police are already inundated with work related to mental health issues.
Both council and Wlodyka hope the addition of a mental health officer will help improve police efficiency, while still providing an effective service to the community.
"We actually have a really good relationship with the community as far as a police standpoint and I think this only goes to improve that," he said.
Wlodyka began his new position on Monday. City council and the police board approved the position for two years, after which they'll review Wlodyka's progress and decide whether or not to extend the position.
