Policing: Frontline officers overwhelmed by mental health cases

Mr Henderson said the police were dealing with an average of 107 mental health incidents per day and estimated that more than 100,000 hours of police time were spent on these every year.

That amounted to around £4m a year, he told MLAs.

“This is not right for those members of the public who are in a health crisis.”

“I don’t think there is anyone who thinks that having a police officer with their gun, their stab proof vest, their handcuffs should be the mental health support for someone in health crisis for significant periods of time.”

Mr Henderson said the high volume of calls meant less policing at a time of significant financial pressure and the lowest number of officers since the PSNI came into existence.

“It feels that the threats to our community are becoming ever more challenging – four women murdered in a six-week period since August at the hands of men, race hate riots in the summer, the awful (Alexander) McCartney catfish case, the continued shadow of paramilitarism and the criminal exploitation of young people.

“That is police work, that is protecting our communities from harm.”