THE University of York has secured £1 million in funding to collaborate with North Yorkshire Police on new approaches to dealing with mental health problems.

It is estimated that a quarter of all calls to North Yorkshire Police (NYP) involve a person with mental health issues.

The force hopes to work with the university to identify people who need mental health services before they reach crisis point.

Tim Madgwick, North Yorkshire Police’s deputy chief constable, said: “The police are not mental health experts, nor can we provide the appropriate service for people who are often at their most vulnerable and need professional health care and support . We have already made great progress over recent years in supporting people with mental ill health through the provision of street triage services and the introduction of four health-based places of safety for people detained by the police because of a mental health crisis.

"We now look forward to developing our work with the university and seeing the outcome of this important area of work.”

York is one of 14 successful UK bids to the £10 million Police Knowledge Fund launched to encourage collaboration between academia and police forces.

Led by Professor Martin Smith in York’s Department of Politics, the project is aimed at helping frontline staff in North Yorkshire Police to better identify both victims and offenders who need mental health support.

Improving the way the force works internally and with health services, the project will develop a training programme to enable access to services at the right time and reduce mental health-related repeat incidents.

It will see managers and service providers get together to discuss their experiences and what they see as challenges, opportunities and potential solutions.

Following this, the project will launch national level workshops to ensure the work is shared across the UK, and the University of York will provide intensive training for police and health practitioners, including the development of a tailored part-time Master’s programme.

Professor Smith said: “According to the mental health charity Mind, one in four will experience a mental health issue in any year, and one in six will have a mental health condition at any one time.

Over half of deaths following police contact involve people with a mental health issue, and people with mental health problems are up to ten times more likely to become victims of crime than the general population.

“Mental health involves considerable resources for both the police and other agencies, so we are delighted to collaborate with North Yorkshire Police and a number of councils to address these important issues. We recognise that our goal of creating better outcomes in the area of mental health requires a culture change that will start by better fitting approaches to the realities of those who work on the ground.”