I think you raise a very interesting point. It is one of the great challenges for police to decide how to deal with people with mental illness, because you will be first on the scene. They are the ones who are called when there is an incident and a problem.
I know that the Mental Health Commission has been working and has a stream that is trying to work with police to give them some help to deal with the front-end issues, but you will need some comprehensive reforms of the provincial mental health legislation.