In the last five years, the Western Police District has registered a fivefold increase in the number of assignments related to mentally ill people. The development worries the police.
In comparison, the police in the west of Norway had to move out and intervene in assignments related to mentally ill people 1941 times in 2017.
“We see that it is increasing, and there is a great concern related to this,” the head of the joint unit for operational service in the Western Police District, Gunnar Fløystad, told the newspaper Bergensavisen.
The assignments often take place when the police have to assist the health service, but also when the police have to intervene in incidents where mentally ill people are loud and violent.
The number of such assignments where the police had to be armed is also increasing, according to the newspaper. In 2016 there were 49 such assignments. In 2021, the number amounted to 185.
The development is the same on a national basis, Fløystad warned.
Source : © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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