Summary
"The VPD is responding to too many emergency calls involving persons experiencing a mental health crisis. Often, the behaviour is criminal and we must arrest and prosecute a mentally ill offender. While the VPD and health service providers are doing as much as they can with the resources available, these current resources are not enough to reverse the troubling trend that has been continuing for more than a decade. However, as the full report describes, there are measures that can be implemented that will lead to better lives for the mentally ill and reduce the overall number of violent incidents. The first line of treatment for the violently mentally ill should not be a police officer."--page 4.