Over time, there has been a great deal of stigma when it comes to mental health and discussing its presence. Millions of Canadians live with mental illness every day. Approximately 1 in 5 Canadians will face a mental illness in their lifetime (Smetanin, Stiff, Briante, Adair, Ahmad, & Khan, 2011). In Canada, the stigma surrounding mental illness is slowly coming to an end. While this is true in society at large, it is not true in the realm of policing. There is still a large gap between police officers and the community of people with mental illness. In the advanced democratic country of Canada, training and awareness about mental illnesses must continue to take place to bridge the gap between police officers and people with mental illnesses. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Every year, police officers respond to millions of calls for help. They range from very minor problems such as a broken window, up to a life-threatening situation. Many calls received by police officers involve mentally ill people. Although these calls are stigmatized and considered dangerous due to the unpredictable nature for people with mental illnesses, police officers should respond to the call without fear or anxiety. The increase in people with mental illnesses corresponds to an increase in police officers interacting with people with mental illnesses. Negative outcomes of interactions between police officers and people with mental illness almost always lead to new recommendations when interacting with people with mental illness. These recommendations always concern training and programs for police officers. The best-known program, Crisis Intervention Team (CIT), has been shown to have an effect in improving outcomes of interactions between police officers and people with mental illnesses (Cotton and Coleman, 2010). CIT brings police officers and mental health workers together when they serve mentally ill people in the community. This ensures that certain precautions are taken when responding to calls involving mentally ill people as they have different needs than their non-mentally ill counterparts. Although CIT is beneficial to mentally ill people, support for CIT has also been demonstrated by police officers. Mental health related calls can be quite bothersome for police officers. Surveys have shown that many police officers feel undertrained for these calls as they are quite unpredictable, which can cause them to further aggravate the situation (Wells and Schaefer, 2006; Ruiz and Miller 2004). CIT is beneficial to police officers as it helps them interact with mentally ill patients more safely. While first responders receive mental health training, police officers are among the least trained when it comes to mental health. When an emergency situation occurs, a police officer can sometimes arrive faster than a paramedic. If police officers received the same in-depth mental health training that paramedics receive, they would be better equipped and trained to help the mentally ill person. This would also take some of the burden off paramedics when responding to calls from mentally ill people. Many Canadian police forces have implemented beneficial training plans when it comes to police officers responding to calls of mentally ill people. The Ontario Police College uses a training guide for new onespolice officers throughout their police training. This useful guide is also used by hospitals, psychiatric workers, mental health workers, mental health consumer organizations and prison workers (Coleman and Cotton, 2010). Another great initiative in Canada is the Lanark County LEAD Team. The mental health/police model is made up of groups of officers from OPP detachments in Ontario cities such as Smith Falls, Perth, Renfrew County, Lanark and Leed County, and Grenville. These officers conduct training in small groups where they learn about mental illnesses including symptoms, risk assessments, behaviors, recognition of people with mental illnesses, and de-escalation strategies (Cotton and Coleman, 2010). This is done so that officers recognize and understand that mental illnesses are a disorder and not an intentional crime. Officers then take this knowledge back to their city's OPP detachment and pass it on to their fellow officers and supervisors (Cotton and Coleman, 2010). These initiatives in Ontario show how police forces are motivated to help the mentally ill and not punish them for their disorders. In an age where there are many people with mental illness incarcerated for their actions rather than treated, programs for police officers to engage with the mentally ill are needed more than ever. In the United States, an estimated 10–15% of prisoners and 25% of prison inmates suffer from serious mental illness (Fuller, Sinclair, Geller, Quanbeck, & Snook, 2016). People with serious mental illnesses have no place in jail or prison, but rather within a psychiatric institution or center is more beneficial to their health. The institutionalization of incarceration in the United States is a much bigger problem than in Canada, but Canada faces the same problems. The dangers of incarcerating and punishing the mentally ill can be highlighted by looking at the death by suicide of 19-year-old Ashley Fabbro. Smith was a young Ontario girl who was incarcerated in youth detention centers for minor crimes such as trespassing, making disturbances, and throwing crab apples at the postman. Smith had behavioral problems that led to her school suspension and further incarceration at a federal institution, Nova Institution for Women. Smith has been diagnosed with ADHD, learning disorder, borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder. While at the Grand Valley Institute for Women, Smith attempted suicide multiple times and continued to exhibit self-harming behavior, she was placed on suicide watch. She had also asked to be transferred to a psychiatric center and was placed on a waiting list. Smith again attempted suicide by hanging and she died. While witnessing her death via video surveillance, the guards did not intervene for almost an hour and it was some time before they entered to check on her (“Timeline: The life & death”, 2010). This case study highlights not only the dangers of incarcerating the mentally ill, but also the very first interactions between the mentally ill and police officers. The main goal should not be punishment but rather rehabilitation. At the time of interaction between the mentally ill person and a police officer, it is necessary to ensure that the mentally ill person receives the treatment he or she needs before any formal punishment is meted out. While the stigma is slowly decreasing through initiatives like Bell Let's Talk and other initiatives through the Mental Health Commission of Canada, there is still a stigma surrounding mental illnesses. Through surveys.