Police pause 'Right Care Right Person' initiative after Costessey deaths
The policy was due to be introduced next week but has been paused.
Norfolk Police has confirmed it will pause the launch of the Right Care Right Person (RCRP) initiative.
The policy was due to be introduced next week but has been paused after the deaths of four people in Costessey.
While the force is fully prepared and ready to go live, the incident has generated some commentary and concern and the constabulary has made the decision to postpone the roll-out to allow for a short period of consolidation so these concerns can be addressed.
Assistant Chief Constable Nick Davison, Local Policing Lead at Norfolk Police, said: “RCRP has always been about getting people in crisis the right care, from the right professional.
“We still believe it is right to implement RCRP and following 10 months of closely working with our partners in health and social care, we are ready to go live.
“However, we are acutely aware of the commentary and concerns the incident in Costessey has generated, which is why we took time to review our position.
“Given some of the concerns, it is only right we postpone the roll-out to allow for a short period of consolidation to give us extra time to provide additional information and reassurance to the public and the wider health and social care system.”
RCRP sees the police reduce its involvement in certain types of demand, with the overall aim of making sure people in crisis get the right care and support they need, from the right qualified professional.
However, RCRP is not a fundamental withdrawal from policing certain calls for service; policing will always have a role where a danger, risk of harm or crime is identified.
Last month, the bodies of four people, a man, woman and two children, were found at a house in Costessey.
Officers attended after a member of the public raised concerns for the welfare of people inside the address.
It was later established the man in the address had called police about an hour before the incident, which did not result in the deployment of officers.
This matter is now being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which in a statement has since confirmed the caller raised concerns for their mental state and was advised to seek medical guidance.
The full circumstances of this call and the constabulary’s response continue to be investigated by the IOPC and therefore no further information can be released.
The Right Care, Right Person initiative is supported by central government including the Home Office and Department of Health and Social Care and the policy has been recognised by the College of Policing and the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) as good practice.
ACC Davison added: “We’ve carefully considered our approach to this and sought learning from other force areas. We believe this is the right thing to do to make sure people in mental health crisis get the right support, which all too often, can be better handled by another agency, and not a police officer. As we move forward we will keep the public and partners updated on our plans.”