Met police policy on mental health calls may be putting lives at risk, say charities

Officers have been getting to robberies quicker and spending more time at crime scenes since the Right Care Right Person scheme was introduced, the Met says. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

The Metropolitan police have said their refusal to routinely go to mental health calls means officers can spend more time at crime scenes, but charities say the policy could endanger lives.

Six months ago the Met introduced a scheme called Right Care Right Person, aiming to cut the time officers spent dealing with mental health calls, which it said was diverting the force from fighting crime.