Good afternoon, honourable members, and thank you for the opportunity to speak today on behalf of Chief Constable Jim Chu of the Vancouver Police Department.
As for my background, I'm in my 34th year of combined policing service as a current member of the Vancouver Police Department and as a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In 2003, I was part of the Vancouver Coastal Health project team for the supervised injection site, or SIS. In 2003 I was also the author of the Vancouver Police Department's policing and operational plan for the SIS. I also developed and delivered the SIS orientation packages to both VPD members as well as Vancouver Coastal Health staff. I was down on the ground in the downtown eastside for the first year of the supervised injection site's operation.
Currently I'm in charge of Vancouver's northwest police district, which encompasses the downtown core, west end, and includes our city's entertainment district, and also the Dr. Peter Centre.
For the VPD, the story of the SIS began early in 2002. Philip Owen was the mayor and chair of the Vancouver police force at the time. The VPD examined the question of an SIS during a facilitated managerial and executive process and came to two conclusions. One was that our expertise is in policing public safety, not in health and medical research. Therefore, we should always be cautious when and if we choose to support or criticize public health initiatives and/or research, given our expertise lies elsewhere. The other was that regardless of whether we agree with the concept of an SIS or not, we need to be at the table.
As you likely know, in late 2002, a civic election in Vancouver resulted in Larry Campbell, now Senator Campbell, becoming mayor. The primary election issue was the SIS. Mayor Campbell and others subsequently drove the process to make this concept a reality.
As part of the application process for an exemption for medical research at the SIS under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, Health Canada asked the VPD what its position was. We replied that for drug users not engaged in disorderly, unlawful, threatening, and/or violent behaviours on the street, or wanted for an outstanding arrest warrant, it is unlikely that it would prevent or impede the Vancouver police from accessing the supervised injection site.
Just before the SIS opened, the VPD operations plan stated the following to Vancouver police officers. Police have a broad range of discretion when dealing with drug use and drug possession in the city of Vancouver. This discretion includes options such as seizure of the drug, and/or arrest and charging of the person. This discretion lies solely with the police officer on the street. Also, when dealing with intravenous drug users found using drugs within a four-block radius of the SIS, it is recommended that our members direct the drug user to attend the SIS to avoid future contact with police.
Our orientation package for the SIS staff, and later for our VPD drug policy, stated simply that on a fundamental level all health initiatives must be lawful.
I submit that during the past 11 years, members of the Vancouver Police Department have performed their duties in an exemplary manner in relation to the supervised injection site. This performance represents the best traditions of a neutral, apolitical, and professional police service in a free and democratic society.
This brings me to the vision of the Vancouver Police Department and the key messages I've been asked to deliver to you today.
First, the VPD agrees with the position of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police that illicit drugs are harmful. The high instance of addiction in Vancouver contributes to an inordinately high property crime rate. When the supervised injection site opened, the VPD position was that we were in favour of any legal measure that might have a chance of reducing the drug problem in Vancouver's downtown eastside. We are on the record as initially supporting the SIS as a research project, and have continued to have a good and effective working relationship with the staff of this facility over the years.
The VPD's primary interest and mandate around the SIS has always been and remains public safety, not public health. Our position is that as a police agency focused on public safety, it would be inappropriate for the VPD to comment on the medical merits of the SIS.
What we will say based on our decade of experience is that local civic government and community support, as well as the support of the police, are crucial when any new health service is implemented, be it an injection service, a medical clinic, medical health treatment centre, or supportive housing. Our experience after working with public health, medical and addiction services, and in more recent years mental health services, is that the police and health services should work toward building effective partnerships that can contribute to and improve the delivery of health services, as well as public safety.
As to whether we can comment that crime has increased or decreased related specifically to the SIS, we cannot say either way. The SIS is located in a neighbourhood with high violent crime caused by many factors, none of which are specifically related to the SIS. Property crime in the neighbourhood is also driven by drug addiction, and it cannot be specifically related to the SIS.
Upon request, we have provided information regarding our historic SIS operational policing plans to the police services of other cities. We are conscious, however, that every city, town, and community will have its own circumstances and stories and that the situation in Vancouver may well be quite different.
In closing, the Vancouver Police Department will not be an active participant in any debate about the medical merits of a supervised injection site, particularly in relation to other cities and jurisdictions in Canada.
Thank you.