New figures show police are struggling to deal with a massive increase in calls related to attempted suicides and mental health issues - with the issue only expected to get worse.
Figures obtained by 1News under the Official Information Act show an 87% jump in the number of calls to police for threatened or attempted suicides in the past six years. The organisation received just under 30,000 calls last year alone.
There was also a 66% rise in the number of mental health-related calls, but police were only able to respond to less than half of these. Police have told 1News they've increased training for staff, but that they're not the experts.
"These people haven't committed any offences, they're simply seeking help, they're in mental distress - it's a really tricky situation," Inspector Brent Register said.
Mental Health Foundation chief executive Shaun Robinson said there was a significant scale to the number of wellbeing issues in the community.
"The scale of mental health issues in the community is far bigger than any Government of any description has ever been prepared to acknowledge," he said. "Then, of course, we add all the pressures of things like Covid-19."
Meanwhile, Police Association president Chris Cahill said officers were being burdened by a health issue.
"This is a health issue, not a policing issue, and it's wrong that police are seen as the first and largest organisation that deals with mental health," he said. "It should be health that are looking after these people in the first instance."
Police are predicting a 44% increase in mental health workload over the next three years.
"At some stage, police simply won't be able to deliver on that demand," Cahill said.
Speaking to 1News, Police Senior Sergeant Matthew Morris said there was significant help needed in the community.
"It wouldn't be uncommon, particularly in the bad hours - let's put it that way - for one-quarter of your staff to be tied up with mental health-related calls."
Morris is part of a cross-agency mental health response team pilot that involves a unique group of police, mental health professionals and paramedics who respond to reported distress incidents in Wellington.
The "Co-Response Team" pilot has proven to be a success, but a decision on a nationwide rollout is in the hands of the Government's new Health NZ agency.
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