Geraldton will receive the first regional mental health co-response team, the West Australian Police Minister has announced.
Mental health clinicians and Aboriginal support workers will join police to attend to mental health incidents in the region.
Police Minister Paul Papalia said the team would provide additional responders who are trained to de-escalate situations.
"The real issue we're trying to avoid is unnecessarily putting people in the justice system," he said.
"It doesn't help [when] people as a consequence of encountering someone who has called for help, to end up being locked up and going further into the justice system."
The initiative will also see some police officers in the city given extra mental health training.
"These are actually mental health practitioners who are chosen for the task, trained for the task, as are the police," Mr Papalia said.
Mr Papalia said a similar strategy was already in place with metropolitan police teams in Perth.
"The collocating of the agencies together with police works," he said.
"It's good for the people who are being treated and it's good for the community more broadly.
"It's also very good for out police and other agency people who have to work in some pretty tough environments."
Member for Geraldton Lara Dalton said she was pleased the program was being rolled out.
"This is going to be very important for Geraldton," she said.
"Having this extra support with cases for mental health is going to give the police some support, as well as the person who is in need."
The co-response team will begin work on September 8.
Another regional co-response team servicing the state's south-west will be developed later this year.
