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Letter: We shouldn’t be funding police to deliver social services

Responding to new funding for Greater Sudbury Police to manage mental health and addictions calls for service, letter-writer says this money should be going to social service groups to help people, not police to lock them up
LettersToTheEditor
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Recently we have seen multiple news reports regarding the Greater Sudbury Police Service receiving a substantial amount of funding to respond to mental health and addiction issues in Sudbury. 

This totals millions of dollars given to the police for something that is clearly a social and not a criminal issue.

I understand the police have seen an increase in mental health- and addiction-related calls, but the reason why this is happening is because the social services for these people to get the help they need to stay out of police custody is being slashed to the bone. 

Warming centers are being shut down, hospital programming for mental health issues is at its breaking point, harm reduction programs are being cut and funding for one-on-one mental health programming is nowhere to be seen. 

But with all of this in mind, our Conservative government feels that it's best to give millions of dollars to our police service. 

I don't want to say that the police do not play an important role in society, because I absolutely think that they do. I know that if I was scared for my safety and had to call 9-1-1, I'd be extremely thankful for their presence. 

This is not a bash to the police, but a cry to the government to put social programming dollars in the hands of the people who will have the most impact on the issue. This is not the police. 

When police arrive people acting out because of mental health or addiction issues still tend to get charged with a crime. This means the individual is now stuck in a lengthy criminal process that is not equipped to support them and is actually quite counterproductive to recovery. I'm not sure how this money will counter any of this.

I also believe our chief of police should be doing more to promote social services getting the money they need.

We are in the middle of an election year. In a few weeks, we will decide who we want leading our government. Do we want Conservative leader Doug Ford, a man who clearly loves funding the police for enforcement actions, or a government that will be more sensitive to the real issues and provide social welfare funding instead. 

This drug problem is only going to get much much worse before it gets any better if we keep going on the way we are. 

Jennifer Stradda 
Sudbury