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New documents have revealed that police stations across NSW have prohibited mental health experts from helping officers during “police operations’’.The lack of mandatory police training on how to respond to people in a mental health crisis has resulted in the deaths of four people over the course of five months in NSW, all of whom were experiencing a mental health crisis at the time.The family of 2019 police shooting victim Todd McKenzie, 40, has joined experts in calling for a royal commission into the mental health system. McKenzie was grappling with a severe psychotic episode during the time of his death, and his stepfather Neil Wilkins told the Sydney Morning Herald that police and government inaction had resulted in “avoidable loss of life”.“Mental health training [for NSW Police] is now almost negligible, and even the courses they do doesn’t seem to equip [officers] with an understanding of what mentally unwell person behaviour is and how to talk to them,” Wilkins said.“The system is broken. They’re the forgotten and ignored. They’re not monsters, they just need help, not a police bullet.”Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson acknowledged a faulty system in place, but decided against a call for a royal commission.“I’ve only been the minister for five months, it’s a little bit difficult to hold me accountable for everything that’s happened in the 12 years previously,” Jackson said. “I’m actually out here saying we want to do better. There is a real acknowledgement that the system isn’t working well.”A current NSW Police review is underway, alongside an inquiry into outpatient mental health services, but it is not being led by experts.Adele is the Junior Writer & Producer for VICE AU/NZ. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter here.Read more from VICE Australia and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, This Week Online.
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