RIC training (Réponse en intervention de crise)

The RIC (Réponse en intervention de crise) training aims to enable police officers from the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) to gain a better understanding of human crises and the ways to intervene with people in crisis, reduce potential injuries to citizens and officers, increase the effectiveness of the interventions and reduce the number of repeat calls.

This unique model, which takes different types of crises into consideration, allows police officers who have taken this training (on a voluntary basis) to intervene directly with a person in crisis, to counsel that person and to support other officers in how they should proceed.

Distribution

This training is provided by SPVM police officers, under the responsibility of the SPVM’s Division dela formation. Thelecturers involved in the training include psychiatrists, a psychologist and members of Urgence psychosociale-justice (UPS-J).

People who are or were mentally disturbed are also present to share their experiences, e.g. a man who was diagnosed with schizophrenia—he was the first patient at Pinel and eventually became an employee there, and a woman with borderline
personality and dissociative identity disorder.

Purpose

The RIC training ensures greater complementarity between the SPVM and other partners responding to individuals who are mentally disturbed or in crisis.

For patrol officers, the RIC training increases the probability of achieving a peaceful resolution, thus reducing the risk of injury associated with the use of force, both for people in crisis and police officers. Effective police interventions also have a long-term effect on repeat calls.