"Ware said he's concerned that expanding the MCIT will lead to increased police involvement in mental health and crisis calls."

No... It won't. The police have been the primary response to mental health calls for decades. So, MCIT or not, the police will be there. /1 https://twitter.com/CBCToronto/status/1306532926184620033

Plus, one of the (many) objectives of MCITs (and other co-responses) is to actually DECREASE involvement with police and the CJS by redirecting them to mental health resources. Numerous studies show that redirection is much higher for co-responses relative to the frontline. /2

Many officers who I've spoken to say that they'd like to get out of the "business" of responding to mental health calls. I agree with them, and I'm sure many others do as well. /3

However, the fact is this: shifting a few hundred thousand dollars away from MCIT expansion toward community-based care is not going to do anything. Mental health care has been chronically underfunded for decades and needs MUCH more money than that to have any impact. /4

In the end, mental health care would remain (very) underfunded, MCITs would not be expanded, and guess who would still be responsible for responding to mental health calls? The police. /5