'Really sad to see': Video prompts calls from Richmond politicians for improved mental health, addiction services

A social media video showing a man erratically running in traffic and attempting to open the doors of oncoming vehicles has prompted a response from Richmond politicians.

The video was posted to the Neighbours of Richmond Instagram page on Thursday.

Richmond RCMP told CTV News it received calls Nov. 21 around 6 p.m. of a male ‘running around the streets’ near Ackroyd and Number 3 roads.

“Upon arrival, frontline officers located the subject and based on their assessment of the situation, criminality was ruled out and the male was apprehended, uninjured and transported to a local area hospital,” said Cpl. Kenneth Lau with the Richmond RCMP.

RCMP did not say whether the man was released from hospital.

Kash Heed, a Richmond city councillor, says incidents like this are becoming more common.

“We should be very concerned, but we shouldn’t be very surprised,” said Heed, also the province’s former solicitor general. “You've got a crisis on our street, and it's at the street level, whether it's related to a crime issue or some type of other disorder, the fact remains, there's a fear that society has of these people being in our public spaces.”

Richmond-Queensborough MLA Steve Kooner also saw the video and expressed his concern.

“It was really sad to see the video, and it’s really sad to see the situation that has been unfolding here in Richmond for some time now,” said Kooner.

In the October election, the B.C. Conservatives took three of four seats in Richmond, with local MLA’s focusing on crime and battling the mental health and addiction crisis.

“Residents of Richmond spoke very strongly that they wanted action to be taken and you can see that in the results. The Conservatives had strong messaging against the failed decriminalization policy for drugs and had strong messaging for public safety,” said Kooner, ho also serves as the B.C. Conservative critic for the attorney general.

In September, Premier David Eby vowed to increase the scope of involuntary care for people dealing with concurrent struggles related to mental health, addiction and brain injuries.