Public Safety committee  Frankly, I'd be reluctant to comment because I don't know the details. As I did say in my testimony, we're reluctant to comment because every city, every town has their own issues and concerns. Really, we're familiar with Vancouver. In our view we're reluctant to comment about ot

Public Safety committee  As I commented earlier, I think at some levels it really hinges on local government support. Insite would not have happened had it not been for the support of city council and the mayor, both the previous administration and then Mayor Campbell's administration. Really, at some l

Public Safety committee  In my opinion, my only concern is, has the bar been raised too high? Those are clearly criteria that are important, but has the bar been raised so high that it would be very difficult to bring in any sort of facility? Again, much of our focus in the VPD in these last few years h

Public Safety committee  It would be. We have a very close working relationship with Insite. Frankly, in this last crisis—there's still an active investigation—we certainly worked with Insite to get the word out on the street about the bad dope. It was a crucial part of our communications strategy. We ca

Public Safety committee  I'll actually frame this in the context of past discussions I've had with other police services and with other advocates, I'll call them, across the country in other cities. One of the first questions has always been whether the local government supports a service such as an inje

Public Safety committee  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 Depart

Health committee  Initially, during the first year, we had some additional funding through Vancouver Coastal Health in the Vancouver agreement to provide two extra police officers on the block for the timeframe when Insite was opened. The area already had a strong police presence in terms of polic

Health committee  Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to speak here today on behalf of Chief Constable Jim Chu and the Vancouver Police Department. My name is Inspector Scott Thompson. I'm in my 28th year of combined police service as a current member of the Vancouver Police Departmen