In the May episode of Blue Line, The Podcast, we take a look at panic buying and the calls those on the frontline may have to attend that involve such incidents.

Elaine Birchall, a hoarding behaviour and intervention specialist, is our guest this month. She is the founder of the Canadian National Hoarding Coalition and also spent time as a counsellor with the Nepean Police Victim Crisis Unit (long since amalgamated into the Ottawa Police Service).

She says learning the criteria and how to assess a given situation will help officers avoid unnecessary poor outcomes and improve compliance.