Who Should Answer a 911 Mental Health Crisis?

A leading BC criminologist unpacks frontline data on what happens when police and psychiatric nurses team up. Mental health-related calls to the police continue to increase. That raises the practical question of whether police officers alone are the right first responders when someone is in a mental health crisis? This talk draws on a recent BC study combining RCMP call for service data, interviews with police officers and nurses on co-response teams, and a review of research from Canada and abroad. It looks at what happens when police and mental health clinicians attend these calls together. The audience will learn what co-response teams actually do. They'll also hear how outcomes compare with a traditional police response. Finally, we'll discuss the challenges these programs face and what it would take to make co-response models sustainable in British Columbia. Every Sip Smarter talk includes a 45-minute lecture, a fun pub trivia round, and an open audience Q&A — all over drinks. DATE Wednesday, December 16th, 2026 LOCATION Farm Country Brewing, #5 - 20555 56 Ave, Langley, BC TIME Doors 6:00 PM | Talk 7:00 PM SPEAKER Dr. Irwin M. Cohen is an Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of the Fraser Valley, Director of the Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research, and President of Potus Consulting Inc. Dr. Cohen received a Ph.D. in Criminology in 2001 from Simon Fraser University. In 2003, he joined the faculty of the University of the Fraser Valley. From 2010 to 2013, he served as the Director for the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at UFV, from 2013 to 2017, he was the Senior University Research Chair in Crime Reduction for the RCMP, and since 2013, he has served as Director of the Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research. Dr. Cohen has published one book entitled Eliminating Crime: The Seven Essential Principles of Police-Based Crime Reduction, dozens of scholarly articles and book chapters, over 150 research reports, delivered over 100 conference papers and workshops, and worked on over 100 research projects on a wide range of topics, including policing, public safety, terrorism and state torture, serious and violent young offenders, addictions, mental health, gambling, and the role of technology in criminal justice. For his many research contributions, in 2019, Dr. Cohen was the recipient of the University of the Fraser Valley’s Research Excellence Award. “The only thing better than learning is the conversation after.”