Lost in Transition: how a Lack of Capacity in the Mental Health System is Failing Vancouver’s Mentally ill and Draining Police Resources

The purpose of this report is to provide a quantitative analysis of the prevalence of Vancouver Police Departments calls for service that involve persons with mental health issues. It is estimated the direct annual cost associated with the police resources necessary to handle these calls would be approximately $9 million. The case history of a 25-year-old man who died by suicide is used to exemplify many of the issues covered in the report.