BCSS/Mind Friends Monthly E-News Message - July 2008

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:13:00 GMT

<div id="border"> <div id="Container"> <table width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=#FFFFFF> <img src="http://www.bcss.org/a_images/logo_new.jpg"> <img src="http://www.bcss.org/a_images/bcss_2line_text.jpg"> BCSS/Mind Friends Monthly E-News Message - July 2008 <a href="http://bcss.org">Home</a> </td></tr></table> <div class="floatclear"></div> </div> <div id="Content">  (Mailing list information, including unsubscription instructions, is located at the end of this message.)  <h2><a href="http://www.bcss.org/wp-content/uploads/dsc_7.jpg"><img class="alignleft alignnone size-medium wp-image-629" style="float: left; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px;" title="Detective Fiona Wilson-Bates Recieving Award" src="http://www.bcss.org/wp-content/uploads/dsc_7-300x199.jpg" alt="Detectove Fiona Wilson-Bates receiving award from Dave Halikowski and Gary Glacken of BCSS" width="300" height="199" /></a></h2> <a href="http://www.bcss.org/category/about/">The BC Schizophrenia Society</a> is pleased to present this special Award for Excellence in Police Service to Detective Fiona Wilson-Bates of the <a href="http://vancouver.ca/police/Whatsnew/transition.htm">Vancouver Police </a>for research on the frequency of mental health-related incidents attended by police, and for her outstanding report, <a href="http://vancouver.ca/police/Whatsnew/transition.htm">Lost in Transition. </a> <a href="http://www.bcss.org/category/about/">The BC Schizophrenia Society</a> is made up of family members and supporters of people with schizophrenia and other psychosis-related illness. We provide education, support, research, and advocacy for more and better resources for people with serious brain disorders. We also work closely with health authorities and other service providers - most notably the police - who as we know are often first-responders to calls involving the mentally ill. Our organization's close affiliation with the Vancouver police is historically significant. Since the early 1990's, the Vancouver police have regularly incorporated the BC Schizophrenia Society's <a href="http://www.partnership.bcss.org ">Partnership program </a>into their training. <a href="http://www.partnership.bcss.org">Partnership education </a>brings a panel of three presenters - someone with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, a family member of someone with the illness, plus a mental health professional. Each person briefly tells their story, and then there's a Q and A with participants. The program is simple, moving, and highly effective. We are confident that education like this over the years has helped contribute to the outstanding reputation of the Vancouver Police to "serve and protect" people who suffer from mental illness and their families. Ten years ago, Jamie Graham, then-Superintendent of the North Vancouver RCMP, contacted us about a series of newspaper articles by one of our members who had lost his son to suicide. At the time, Chief Graham was looking for a civilian to help form a new mental health committee of the BC Association of Chiefs of Police. And so BC Schizophrenia Society director Richard Dolman - for whom this Award is named - became a founding member of that committee. Throughout the years, the <a href="http://www.bcss.org/category/about/">BC Schizophrenia Society </a>has continued to work closely with the police. As a Society, we have sought and received official standing at inquests into incidents concerning the police and people with mental illness. We have consistently defended police action, and have questioned instead the appalling lack of timely medical care and treatment for the mentally ill. <a title="Blueprint for Change Report" href="http://www.bcss.org/2008/02/04/bc-schizophrenia-society-blueprint-for-change/">Our position is clear: Violence involving people suffering from psychosis is first and foremost a treatment issue - and that appropriate treatment is all too often sadly lacking.</a> In 1999, the BC Schizophrenia Society was the first to publicly advocate for use of the Taser as an alternate method to lethal force when dealing with psychotic patients. <a title="BCSS Statement on Violence" href="http://www.bcss.org/2008/04/03/bc-schizophrenia-statement-on-violence/">We continue to defend this position </a>- most recently in April of this year before hearings of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, and in our brief to the ongoing Braidwood inquiry. For us, the Vancouver Police Department's <a href="http://vancouver.ca/police/Whatsnew/transition.htm">Lost in Transition </a>report was truly a breath of fresh air. To begin with, it is extremely clear and well-written. Through her ability to describe in striking detail how the police are being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of calls about people with mental illness, Detective Fiona Wilson-Bates has helped focus attention on a chronic shortage of resources for this vulnerable population. As a Society, we have always been grateful for the work of the Vancouver police in helping people with serious mental illness and their families. We were especially pleased to note the strong impact that <a href="http://vancouver.ca/police/Whatsnew/transition.htm">Lost in Transition </a>has had on the media. It is certainly no secret to us that the police have become by default front-line mental health workers. By pointing this out in her report, Detective Wilson-Bates has helped to shine a bright light where it is most needed - on the lack of capacity and communication in the mental health care system. The recommendations made in the <a href="http://vancouver.ca/police/Whatsnew/transition.htm">Lost in Transition</a><a href="http://vancouver.ca/police/Whatsnew/transition.htm"> </a>report are sensible and specific. They directly address the plight of the mentally ill and the obvious gaps in mental health services. We believe that, if implemented, these recommendations could improve information-sharing among mental health providers, reduce the percentage of police calls, and reduce the burden on families who have relatives with schizophrenia or other serious brain disorders. We sincerely believe that the <a href="http://vancouver.ca/police/Whatsnew/transition.htm">Lost in Transition</a><a href="http://vancouver.ca/police/Whatsnew/transition.htm"> </a> report brings renewed hope for bette r care for the mentally ill, and a reduction in the number of mentally ill people coming into conflict with the police. It is a pleasure and an honour to present this award to Detective Fiona Wilson-Bates. Gary Glacken Executive Director British Columbia Schizophrenia Society P: 1-604-270-7841 F: 1-270-9861 TF: 1-888-888-0029 E: <a href="mailto:gglacken@telus.net">gglacken@telus.net</a> URL: <a href="http://www.bcss.org">www.bcss.org</a>  The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription: You are subscribed to the following list: BCSS/Mind Friends Monthly E-News using the following email: example@example.com You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting the following URL: <a href="http://www.bcss.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/Friends/"> http://www.bcss.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/Friends/ </a> If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism. 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