In light of a recent joint news conference on September 13th where Mayor Gregor Robertson and Vancouver Police Constable Jim Chu urged senior levels of government to provide urgently needed resources to address a growing crisis of people with severe, untreated mental illnesses, the Vancouver Police Department is providing some follow-up information on six recent incidents that reinforce the need for those resources.
These six incidents have occurred in one week and are in addition to an average of 8 Mental Health Act apprehensions and 21% of calls police attend each and every day in the city of Vancouver.
On September 13th at approximately 7:30 a.m., police were called to an apartment in downtown Vancouver after they were notified a man was inside the suite suffering from self-inflicted injuries. The 19-year-old threatened to burn down the apartment building and kill police if they attended. Police were able to take him into custody without incident and he was arrested under Section 28 of the Mental Health Act. This man had no history of mental illness.
On Saturday, September 14th, at approximately 12:30 a.m., police were alerted to a man in his 20s acting erratically on a busy section of Granville Street; he was approaching strangers, saying he would kill them and then showed them a knife. Officers located the man before anyone was harmed, and safely took him into custody. He was arrested under Section 28 of the Mental Health Act and transported to hospital, where he was admitted and immediately certified by medical staff. This man has had prior police contacts related to his mental illness.
On September 17th, police were near the downtown side of the Cambie Street Bridge when they saw a man acting erratically, yelling at people, swearing, and throwing his hands around. He was very agitated when stopped by police. Witnesses came forward and alleged the man had damaged a nearby vehicle, and he was ultimately arrested for mischief. The man is well known to police and he appears to have mental health concerns.
On September 18th, police responded to a building run by the Mental Health Commission of Canada after a resident shot another resident with a pellet gun, causing an injury that was treated at hospital. The suspect, a man in his 50s, surrendered the pellet gun to staff and attempted to leave before police arrived. He was arrested as he left the building. Criminal charges were requested for the weapons offences. This man has also had prior police contacts related to his mental illness.
Early Wednesday morning, in perhaps one of the most concerning cases, police responded to an emergency call from the Ambulance Service of BC and the Vancouver Fire Department after a 20 year old male patient they had been called to treat threatened them with a knife. A physical struggle ensued between the paramedics, the firemen and the man, with the first responders wrestling the knife away from him. Officers arrived shortly after and took the man into custody. It was determined he was suffering from a number of serious, self-inflicted injuries, and he was taken to hospital for treatment of those injuries. Police arrested the man under Section 28 of the Mental Health Act. No emergency personnel were injured. This man had no previous history of observed mental illness.
Finally, around 5:45 yesterday evening, a 52 year old man called 9-1-1 and advised police that he wanted take his own life. Police responded and determined that the man was a danger to himself and was suffering from an apparent mental disorder. His condition was also compounded by secondary risk factors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. The man was arrested under the Mental Health Act and taken to a local hospital by police where he was delivered to a physician to assess his mental state. Police left the man in the care of the hospital’s physician at approximately 8:10 p.m.
A short while later, at 9:30 p.m., police found the man outside of the railing of a local bridge, again intent on taking his own life. Crisis negotiators were called in and the man was talked off the bridge. He was arrested under the Mental Health Act for the second time in a four-hour period and was taken by police to a second local hospital for assessment. This man is well known to police and has a history of police contacts related to his mental illness.