RE: Urgent Implementation of Promised Car 67 Mental Health Response Unit in Langley
Dear Ministers Osborne and Krieger,
In October 2024, your government publicly committed to establishing a Mobile Integrated Crisis Response (MICR) team, commonly referred to as “Car 67,” in Langley. This announcement was accompanied by media releases, public endorsements, and assurances that implementation would proceed promptly.
It is now August 2025, nearly ten months later. The vehicle is ready. Our officers are ready. Our community is ready. Yet Car 67 has not been deployed.
The City of Langley’s mayor and council and the Township of Langley’s council members have repeatedly raised this issue with me, most recently ahead of a ride-along I conducted with Langley RCMP. During that shift, three of the first calls we attended involved mental health crises. Those calls tied up the same three officers for the entire morning: we began our shift at 6:45 a.m., attended the first call shortly after 7 a.m. and the second around 8 a.m., and those officers were still at the hospital when I finished my shift at 1:15 p.m. That is over six hours of lost policing capacity in a single shift.
This is precisely the gap Car 67 is designed to address. The program pairs a uniformed police officer with a mental health professional, often a psychiatric nurse, capable of conducting on-site assessments, providing crisis intervention, and connecting individuals to appropriate care. The model is proven and operational in other B.C. communities, including Surrey, Abbotsford, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Penticton, Vernon, Squamish, Prince Rupert, and the Westshore, where it has reduced strain on both police and health services
Local government leaders in Langley have repeatedly expressed the urgency of this need. I therefore request a clear update on the status of the Langley Car 67 unit, including any outstanding operational or staffing requirements and a firm timeline for its launch.
This is no longer solely a matter of fulfilling a campaign commitment. It is a pressing public safety issue, a critical mental health care need, and an essential measure for effective resource management. Every day of delay leaves individuals in crisis without specialized care and diverts frontline officers from other urgent calls.
I urge your ministry to expedite the final steps required to put Car 67 into operation in Langley and to provide my office with a status update at the earliest opportunity.
Sincerely,
___________________________
Jody Toor, MLA, Langley-Willowbrook Official Opposition Caucus Chair
CC:
Nathan Pachal, Mayor, City of Langley: npachal@langleycity.ca
Eric Woodward, Mayor, Township of Langley: ewoodward@tol.ca