A weekend incident in Sturgeon Falls is being used as an example to highlight the OPP’s Crime Prevention Week theme: “Serving Ontario, Protecting Communities.”
On Friday night, North Bay OPP responded to reports in Sturgeon Falls of someone throwing rocks at passing cars. When officers arrived, the person climbed a roof, asking the officers to shoot him.
A mental health nurse had accompanied the officer on the call and was able to talk the man off the roof and discussed available options with him.
The mental health nurse who joined the call was because of a new partnership between OPP and the Nipissing Mental Health Housing Support Service (NMHHSS) which has formed the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT). The collaboration is part of an approach to better address crime that is the result of mental health and well-being.
During Crime Prevention Week, the North Bay OPP detachment wants to highlight the partnership in an effort to reduce the number of repeat-offenders while also connecting people with the social services they may need.
The week runs from November 1 to 7.