The Belleville Police Service and many other small and medium-sized police forces need a facility other than a jail cell to house people charged with crimes who are unable to care for themselves due to heavy drug and/or alcohol abuse.
Police Chief Mike Callaghan told Belleville’s Police Services Board that the last place someone arrested for creating a disturbance or committing another crime while heavily intoxicated should be is in police custody and that it’s time smaller communities had “detox centres” separate from police services.
“The liability and exposure that having someone who is in a medical condition in a locked up police facility, it is not the right thing to do. And it’s not only a liability exposure for the police organization but also for that individual who is suffering from an alcohol or drug addiction.”
Chief Callaghan says the number of incidents involving heavy use of alcohol and/or drugs has been increasing and that police along with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce are pressing senior governments to fund professionally run “detox centres.”
Local MP Ryan Williams and MPP Todd Smith have both expressed support for the concept.
