VPD says poor contribute to "urban decay"
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 by David Eby
The Vancouver Police Department has swallowed the Kool-aid that is Project Civil City, and just in time for a crackdown by 2010. According to the force's 2008 business plan, crackdowns on the "scavenger economy" and "sleeping/camping in city parks and other public spaces" are high on the agenda.
The identified "champion" for this initiative against the poorest of Vancouverites is Superintendent Warren Lemcke, who is best known for his championing of the "broken windows" theory of crime control he says was instrumental in New York's crime turnaround.
Priority one in this portion of the plan is to have a "20% increase in the number of charges under the Safe Streets Act and the Trespass Act in 2008 as compared to 2007."
I suppose it would be too much to ask for to have a 20% crackdown on illegal lobbying, or 20% of the $177m we spend each year on policing going to housing instead, or 20% of the anti-poor and anti-homeless policing going to preventing gangland shootings instead, or a 20% crackdown on slumlords, or a 20% increase in use of force training for the VPD, or any one of hundreds of other initiatives that would actually make a difference in this city, instead of criminalizing the poor for being poor.
The identified "champion" for this initiative against the poorest of Vancouverites is Superintendent Warren Lemcke, who is best known for his championing of the "broken windows" theory of crime control he says was instrumental in New York's crime turnaround.
Priority one in this portion of the plan is to have a "20% increase in the number of charges under the Safe Streets Act and the Trespass Act in 2008 as compared to 2007."
I suppose it would be too much to ask for to have a 20% crackdown on illegal lobbying, or 20% of the $177m we spend each year on policing going to housing instead, or 20% of the anti-poor and anti-homeless policing going to preventing gangland shootings instead, or a 20% crackdown on slumlords, or a 20% increase in use of force training for the VPD, or any one of hundreds of other initiatives that would actually make a difference in this city, instead of criminalizing the poor for being poor.
Subscribe by RSS
Subscribe by Email