'Calls for increased police budgets to respond to expected increases in mental health-related incidents may be unjustified,' the study says.
A new study from Simon Fraser University says while most crime types declined across Canada during COVID-19 restrictions, mental health-related incidents such as suicide remained relatively stable or declined, counter to claims that mental health-related incidents increased.
Researchers found there were significant decreases in calls to police for suicide or suicide attempts during COVID-19 in Vancouver as well as the Toronto regions of Halton and York. “Our findings suggests that police resourcing may not be an important focus during an exceptional event such as a pandemic,” SFU criminology professor Martin Andresen, the study’s co-lead, said. “Rather, we suggest that funding may be better spent on preventative strategies that improve evidence-based predictors of mental health such as housing, basic income and social services.”
Digging into the data Researchers looked at calls for property and violent crimes, which they said decreased in almost all jurisdictions. One notable exception was London, Ont., where violent crime increased by 30 per cent during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the number of hate-motivated crimes reported by police increased by 27 per cent to 3,360 incidents nationally from 3,360 in 2021.
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