Chris Philp, the Policing Minister, says it will enable more visible patrolling and faster response times – things the public would expect
Police will stop attending the majority of mental health callouts to free up officers and allow them to spend more time patrolling the streets, ministers have announced.
Chris Philp, the Policing Minister, said that forces in England and Wales currently attend 80 per cent of health and social care incidents.
Under the new plans, that will be cut to just 20 or 30 per cent within the next two years, although officers will still attend any call outs that pose a risk to the public.
Currently, police officers wait for an average of 12 hours with patients detained under the Mental Health Act in accident and emergency wards.