Community advocates in Ottawa are challenging proposed increases to the police budget for mental health crisis response, pointing to the demonstrated success of the Alternative Neighbourhood Crisis Response (ANCHOR) program as evidence that different approaches yield better results.
ANCHOR Program: A Proven Alternative
In 2021, under the leadership of late Councillor Diane Deans as Chair of the Ottawa Police Service Board (OPSB), community activists achieved what many considered impossible: the reallocation of $2.7 million from police funding to establish a community-based mental health crisis response system. This decision gave birth to the ANCHOR program, which provides unarmed, health-led responses to mental health emergencies that would typically be handled by police.
Sam Hersh of the Horizon Ottawa community advocacy group emphasized that ANCHOR has proven budget cuts to police are feasible, even when officials claim their hands are tied. The program's success demonstrates that mental health crises don't automatically require armed police intervention.
Current Budget Proposal Reverses Progress
Despite ANCHOR's demonstrated effectiveness, this year's proposed police budget includes police-led expansions into mental health response, including new youth-focused partnerships. The introduction of Mobile Crisis Response Teams (MCRT) pairs police officers from the Mental Health Unit with mental health professionals from The Ottawa Hospital's Mobile Crisis Team.
This approach raises concerns among advocates because a nearly identical program existed from 2012 to 2015 before collapsing amid questions about whether it represented the best use of psychiatrists' time and resources.
Community Concerns About Police Involvement
Formalizing protocols that embed police into crisis response alarms many residents and community advocates. These programs risk prioritizing criminalization over care and coercion over support, potentially eroding trust between communities and the services meant to help them.
The recommendations from the Abdirahman Abdi inquest reinforce evidence that police involvement in mental health crises can escalate harm rather than prevent it. Community advocates argue there's no need to repeat past mistakes when viable alternatives exist.
Expanding Community-Based Solutions
With adequate funding and an expanded mandate, ANCHOR could operate citywide, remove restrictive violent/non-violent triage models that divert calls to police, offer genuine 24-hour coverage, and ensure that calls involving Black, Indigenous, disabled, and unhoused residents receive care rather than enforcement.
Other recommended improvements include moving 911 operators outside of OPS control and increasing capacity for community-led violence interruption programs, further shifting crisis response away from police influence toward more appropriate community resources.
The ongoing debate highlights a fundamental question about how cities should respond to mental health crises and whether continued police funding represents the most effective approach to community safety and wellbeing.
