Humberside Police have recently announced implementation of The Forcer Protocol, that is - rapid, compassionate intervention for those in acute mental distress who have served in the armed forces.

'Right Care, Right Person' - the brainchild of Humberside Police, aims to withdraw police response to mental health incidents and instead spend police hours spent solely "fighting crime" - ensuring the public get the right care, by the right person. Those people, Humberside argue, are not the police.

Interestingly, this view has now changed. If, and only if, you are a veteran in mental health crisis, this new protocol appears to override RCRP, and acute mental distress (the definition of which I would be interested to read) is classified as police business requiring rapid and compassionate response.

I wonder about the implementation of this protocol and how control room are to establish if someone is a veteran. Will they routinely ask callers? If so, how will they begin to explain to desperate family members that only some loved ones are eligible for support in mental health crisis, and theirs don't meet the criteria.

Aside from the clear moral argument that police forces appear to be choosing who gets the best chance at survival, I suspect there will be some legal implications in the future. There is only so long forces are able to cover failings up under the guise of 'operational policy' and 'protocol'...