5 February 2016
Hi Scout,
I am writing in response to your request dated 31 December 2015.
The table below (Table 1) shows Police call centre dispatches to events coded as
‘mental health’ in Otago and Southland in 2015.
Table 1: Dispatches to Events Coded as ‘Mental Health’ in 2015
OTAGO
OTAGO
SOUTHLAND
COASTAL
LAKES
AREA
AREA
CENTRAL
AREA
Jan
52
3
16
Feb
50
1
13
Mar
27
3
20
Apr
35
6
15
May
38
1
14
Jun
49
1
16
Jul
53
2
29
Aug
56
2
17
Sep
49
19
Oct
89
1
27
Nov
66
6
21
Dec
67
3
39
Total:
631
29
246
Please note that mental health may be a factor in other types of events such as
those involving criminal offences. Police data will not include whether mental health
was a factor in such events.
Table 2 shows how many of the above dispatches resulted in someone being
detained by Police. Police data do not identify where the person was detained (i.e. in
a police cell or the local hospital, etc.).
Table 2: Dispatches to Events Coded as ‘Mental Health’ and ‘Detained’ in 2015
OTAGO
OTAGO
SOUTHLAND
COASTAL
LAKES
AREA
AREA
CENTRAL
AREA
Jan
2
0
0
Feb
0
0
0
Mar
0
0
0
Apr
1
0
0
May
0
0
0
Jun
0
0
0
Jul
0
0
0
Aug
1
1
0
Sep
0
0
0
Oct
2
0
0
Nov
3
2
0
Dec
3
0
0
Total:
12
3
0
I would like to apologise for the initial automated reply generated by our website and
for the last two responses you received from Police. We are working to ensure that
all future requests will immediately go through to the team responsible for answering
OIA requests. Your initial request was received and responded to during the
Christmas - New Year period, and this contributed to the unsatisfactory responses
that you initially received.
Although for the reasons given above only some of the information you have sought
has been provided, I trust my response is still helpful. As you may already be aware,
you have the right under section 28(3) of the OIA to seek a review of my handling of
your request by the Office of the Ombudsmen.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Gavin Knight
Chief Data Scientist
National Performance & Insights Centre
New Zealand Police
