RCMP Insp. Milo MacDonald and community safety co-ordinator Dave Dickson are presently assessing a program in Surrey they think might work for Williams Lake that helps people dealing with complex social issues.
The two will visit Surrey on Tuesday, March 15, to observe the Surrey Mobilization and Resiliency Table or SMART program.
"They've got some great ideas," MacDonald said. "They take cases that the police would often respond to that they are not necessarily equipped to handle longterm."
Calls for crisis in mental health are a prime example of where the program might be effective.
"The idea is the police would attend a call and they would find someone in crisis," MacDonald said. "They would then convene a meeting of service providers who are in a position to shed some value on that particular situation."
For example, the police might call in a homelessness advocate, a mental health worker, nurse, physician, psychiatrist or social worker to work with the person in crisis.
"There are quite a few cases we see come across our desks on a moderately regular basis that would benefit from a referral to mental health with the support of an advocate to get them into housing," MacDonald said.
SMART was launched in December 2015.
Its table of experts involves, the city, the province, Fraser Health Authority, RCMP, Surrey School District, social service providers such as the Lookout Society, Solutions to Homelessness and the private sector.
Similar programs also exist in Saskatchewan and the Maritimes, MacDonald said.
"Surrey's is the first in B.C. We are hoping to be the second," he added.