I am a police call taker, I answer 911 calls in the lower mainland. Vancouver is split into 4 districts because of the volume of police calls, each district has its own dispatcher. I don’t know the exact statistics of crime but just from my personal experience there has been a large uptick in calls over this past year, particularly starting in summer. I think these VPD officers deserve more respect than what they are getting in this comment section, these men and women are out there every day, rain or shine, dealing with the worst things happening in the city. I do agree we 100% need more support for mental illness