FROM: Corporate Communications
DATE: May 9, 2025
THE SOUTH SIMCOE POLICE SERVICE RECOGNIZES MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH
(INNISFIL/BRADFORD, On) – May is Mental Health Awareness Month in Canada, with Mental Health Week taking place from May 6 to 12, 2025 – dedicated to raising awareness and promoting mental health.
South Simcoe Police acknowledges Mental Health Week with a continued focus on public safety and member wellness.
In 2024, the South Simcoe Police Service received 552 mental health-related calls. These calls represent moments of vulnerability in our community and highlight the need for ongoing collaborative response strategies with emergency response services and community partners, guided by compassion.
To better support individuals in our community experiencing mental health and addiction-related concerns, the South Simcoe Police Service has the Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST). COAST pairs a police officer with a crisis worker from one of our community mental health partners, and together they co-respond to calls for service with a mental health or addiction component. COAST allows us to provide a health care-led, person-centered response to individuals in their time of need. This approach helps to de-escalate individuals in crisis, allows the crisis worker to conduct suicide and mental health assessments, and helps ensure individuals are connected with supports and services that meet their individual needs.
The South Simcoe Police’s role goes beyond responding, it includes connecting individuals to the support and care they need – reaffirming our commitment and motto to Protect with Courage, Serve with Compassion. Mental health affects everyone, and as a police service, we have a responsibility to approach these incidents with compassion, understanding, and offer support resources and services.
As we care for our communities, the service also prioritizes the mental health and well-being of all its members. Policing is a demanding profession, and the toll it can take on mental health is significant. Our service continues to promote peer support programs while offering access to confidential counselling services.
Mental Health Month serves as an important reminder that mental health matters – today, and every day. The South Simcoe Police Service encourages community members and the public to learn about the available supports, speak openly about mental health, and check in on one another.
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