SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 4
CS&B COMMITTEE AGENDA
JUNE 1, 1995
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: May 10, 1995
TO: Standing Committee on City Services & Budgets
FROM: Director of Finance,
in consultation with the Chief Constable
SUBJECT: Chinatown Police Community Service Centre and
the Vancouver Police & Native Liaison Society
CONSIDERATION
The Director of Finance supports the approval of actions A
and B, as follows:
A. THAT the $40,000 request from the Chinatown Police
Community Services Centre to partially fund the ongoing
operating costs of the Centre NOT be approved.
B. THAT the $40,000 request from the Vancouver Police &
Native Liaison Society to partially fund the ongoing
operating costs of the Society NOT be approved.
The Chief Constable supports approval of actions C and D, as
follows:
C. THAT the $40,000 request from the Chinatown Police
Community Services Centre to partially fund the ongoing
operating costs of the Centre be approved, with funding
from Contingency Reserve.
D. THAT the $40,000 request from the Vancouver Police &
Native Liaison Society to partially fund the ongoing
operating costs of the Society be approved, with funding
from Contingency Reserve.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Corporate Services notes that the
issue of appropriate City funding for the Native and
Chinatown Police Storefronts has been ongoing since 1993.
In 1993 and 1994, Council provided two short-term grants
from Contingency Reserve, pending a report from the Chief
Constable detailing
the Department's community-based policing strategies. That
report, released in September 1994, referred to initiatives
that were underway in developing local police offices
andcrime prevention offices at a minimal cost to the City,
but did not specifically refer to the already established
Native and Chinatown Police Storefronts.
Council is now being asked to fund $80,000 ($40,000 per
Storefront) in 1995 and to consider some form of sustaining
funding to these operations beyond this year. Arguably,
there is a demand for the services provided by the two
Storefronts, not only in their immediate areas but city wide
as well, given these services appear to meet cultural and
safety needs which will not otherwise be addressed.
However, there is a policy issue regarding the level of
financial support the City should commit to this type of
community policing operation.
I also note that with the increasing number of community
policing storefront operations generally in Vancouver,
funding these particular Storefronts sets an undesirable
precedent, which could have significant funding implications
for the City in the future. Given that the Provincial
Government, through the Ministry of the Attorney General,
has reduced its funding commitment to a level of $80,000 to
each Storefront, repre-senting fifty per cent of their
projected operating budgets, there is no guarantee that this
present funding will be sustained beyond the April/97
commitment date. Consequently, this is another example of a
senior government initiative with waning financial support
and good potential for down-loading program costs to City
Council for funding.
Taking all of the foregoing into account, and considering
that these Storefront operations were created through
Provincial Government funding initiatives that seem to be
drying up, I RECOMMEND approval of A and B, noting that
these recommenda-tions do not support approval of the
$40,000 funding requests from the Chinatown and Native
Liaison Police Storefronts.
If Council should decide that it is important to provide
1995 funding support to the Chinatown Police Community
Services Centre and the Vancouver Police & Native Liaison
Society, the source of funds for the $40,000 requests would
be Contingency Reserve in the form of grants.
Moreover, should Council wish to provide some financial
stability to these Storefronts, Council could place the two
organizations under a process similar to the previous
Community Services Base Allocation Stream grant process
(BAS). Under the BAS process, grant levels are guaranteed
for three years with annual inflationary increases during
the term, and subject to
review at the end of the third year. A further
consideration, which could be addressed in next year's
operating budget, would be whether to raise the grant
ceiling by $80,000 with suitable offsets elsewhere in the
operating budget, or to raise the grant ceiling by $80,000
without offsets, or to maintain the present grant ceiling
and reallocate grant funds from other community
organizations.
COUNCIL POLICY
City Council, on September 27, 1994, considered and endorsed an
information report from the Chief Constable on community-based
policing. The report proposed that the model for community-based
police offices should be in the form of volunteer operations and
not include any staffed storefront operations.
Approval of grants requires eight affirmative votes.
BACKGROUND
1. Chinatown Police Community Services Centre
The Chinatown Police Community Services Centre was started in
April 1992, with 100% Provincial funding and support from five
community agencies. The objectives of the Centre are as follows:
- to help bridge the gap of the need for services from the
Chinese and Vietnamese communities;
- to enhance the accessibility and delivery of effective,
culturally appropriate services from the Police Department;
and,
- to assist in establishing a trust relationship between the
community and the Police.
Services of the Centre include crime reporting, victim
assistance, counselling, public education on crime prevention and
the justice system, interpretation and translation, and volunteer
development.
In 1993, the Association submitted a $32,000 Community Services
grant request to the Social Planning Department. The request
represented 17% of the projected budget of the Centre of
$189,000. At that time, 70% of the operating budget of the Centre
was for salary and 20% for rent. The Director of Social Planning
noted that this program was a form of police service and would
not be eligible for a grant under the Community Services grant
category, and Council concurred. Council subsequently requested
that the grant request be dealt with as part of the Police
Department Budget Review.
On June 10, 1993, Council received a report from the Chief
Constable, noting the implications of funding such programs for
the Police Department budget. It also noted that the Department
was reviewing the concept of community-based policing and would
be reporting back to Council when the review was completed.
Council approved a grant of $32,000 to the Society with funds
from Continency Reserve.
In 1994, a Community Services grant request of $40,000 was
received from the Centre. The Director of Social Planning did
not recommend a grant for the reasons noted above, but
recommended that the request be considered in the 'Other' grants
category. It was noted the funding from the Attorney General had
dropped from the 1992 level of $213,740, to $110,000 in 1993, and
finally to $80,000 in 1994, with a commitment at that level for a
three-year period, from April 1994 to March 1997. Applications
had also been made to other funders but to no avail. It was also
noted that salaries continued to be the largest component of the
Centre's budget, about 70%.
Due to the uncertainty of funding from other sources and
insufficient funds to keep operating beyond the end of May, 1994,
the Director of Social Planning submitted a report to Council
recommending a grant of $20,000 to enable the Centre to operate
for a further six months, and to confirm and seek other funding
sources. The City Manager recommended against approval of the
grant, but Council approved the grant with funds provided from
Contingency Reserve.
2. Vancouver Police & Native Liaison Society
The Vancouver Police & Native Liaison Society Storefront project
was started in 1990, with most of the funding for the program
provided by the Federal and Provincial Governments. The City's
support has been in the form of Community Services grants
($10,000 in 1990, $20,000 in 1992 and 1993). The 1993 Community
Services Grant represented the last year of the City funding
commitment to provide start-up funds for the program.
The objectives of the Society are as follows:
- to enhance the accessibility of police services to the
Native residents of Vancouver; and,
- to provide referral, victim support services, crime
prevention education and counselling.
There is Police Department representation on the Society's Board
and police personnel have been assigned to work with their staff.
In 1994, a $52,825 Community Services Grant application was made
by the Society to the Social Planning Department. As in the case
of the Chinatown Police Community Services Centre, the request
was not approved, but referred to the Director of Finance for
consideration as part of the 'Other' Grants budget.
Subsequently, a grant of $20,000 was approved by Council on May
19, 1994, in order to resolve the financial crisis facing the
Society.
In 1995, the Society again applied to Social Planning for a
$40,000 Community Services grant. The request was referred to
the Police Department.
3. Preferred Community Policing Model
In December 1994, Council received an information report on
community-based policing from the Chief Constable. The report
dealt with ten strategies in implementing community-based
policing. The Chief Constable identified that the preferred model
for community policing is storefront operations staffed by
volunteers, with minimal financial support from the City. Since
then, Council has approved nine one-time start-up grants of
$6,000 each to nine newly-formed community policing storefront
operations.
DISCUSSION
The 1995 funding requests from both the Chinatown Police
Community Centre and the Vancouver Police & Native Liaison
Society, totalling $80,000, were forwarded to the Police
Department in December 1994. Initially, the Police Department
agreed to consider the $80,000 as a line item in its 1995 budget
request to the City, but these requests take the form of money
grants that must be approved by Council with at least eight
affirmative votes, and administratively fall outside of normal
departmental operating budgets. The departmental budget approach
was consequently abandoned.
The two organizations met with the Police Board on March 22,
1995, and the Board passed the following resolutions on March 22,
1995 and April 26, 1995 respectively:
" THAT the Vancouver Police Board supports in principle
the mission and goals of the Chinatown Police Community
Services Centre and the Vancouver Police & Native
Liaison Society, while recognizing the importance of
their work in community safety and crime prevention. "
" THAT the Vancouver Police Board endorse the Vancouver
Police Department's recommendation that City Council
grant $80,000 in funding to the Chinatown Police
Community Service Centre and the Vancouver Police &
Native Liaison Society, $40,000 per Storefront, from
Other Grants. "
The Chinatown Police Community Services Centre has submitted a
request, dated February 22, 1995, to appear before Council on the
1995 funding issue, including ongoing financial support. The
Centre would like to secure a financial commitment from the City
as soon as possible.
The 1995 operating budget of the Centre is $150,000, a 20%
reduction from the 1994 original budget of $187,000. Funding of
$80,000 has been secured from the Provincial Government, and the
Society is committed to raise $30,000 through their fund-raising
initiatives, leaving a shortfall of $40,000, which the Society
has requested from the City. Staff have had preliminary
discussions with some community-based policing groups in the
downtown eastside area to review possible duplication of
services. Such a review may also result in cost saving proposals
which may benefit the Chinatown Police Community Centre in the
future.
As well, the Vancouver Police & Native Liaison Society has
submitted a funding request of $40,000 to the City. The Society
has a current operating budget of $128,000 for the 1994/1995
fiscal year. Their 1995/1996 proposed operating budget is
$174,700, an increase of $46,700. This is to pay for an
additional support worker position ($30,000) and a proposed wage
and benefit increase (an average of 16% increase from the 1994
level) for the staff of the Society, in order to bring their
wages in line with the community. The Vancouver Police & Native
Liaison Society has been discussing with the Police Department
the possibility of moving their office to the Public Safety
Building. If this office is to be provided to the Society rent-
free, the move will presumably reduce the overall budget of the
Society by $20,000. This rent-free arrangement could be viewed
as the City's contribution towards the operation of the Society.
COMMENTS OF THE CHIEF CONSTABLE
The Chief Constable advises Council that within the context of
community-based policing, there are a number of different types
of local community police offices.
The first type includes the Chinatown Police Community Services
Centre, known as the Chinatown Police Storefront, and the
Vancouver Police & Native Liaison Society's Storefront Project,
known as the Native Police Storefront. Both were established
under a joint funding arrangement with various levels of
government, with a small number of paid staff and volunteers.
These Storefronts were established to address the unique cultural
and language needs of the Chinese and Vietnamese and Native
communities, not only in the immediate area, but also for the
entire City. They form an important role as a component of
community-based policing, as well as providing a bridge between
their client communities and mainstream society and its services.
Both Storefronts provide professional services that cannot be
duplicated by volunteers due to the professional skills required
for confidentiality, victim support over extended periods of
time, translation and interpretation, and a culturally sensitive
response, especially to victims of crimes of violence and sexual
abuse.
The second type of local office are the CRIME PREVENTION OFFICES
initiated by the local community, such as Joyce/Vanness Crime
Prevention Office, Britannia Community Police Office, and the
Mount Pleasant Crime Prevention Office. These offices do not
provide police services, but services which compliment the Police
Department, such as neighbourhood crime prevention, "Blockwatch",
property marking, and public safety advice.
The third type are NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE OFFICES which are
partnerships between the neighbourhood police officers and the
immediate neighbourhood. Examples include: Strathcona, Gastown,
Downtown Eastside, and the West End community Centre. These
offices are developed as the need arises to support local
policing services based on a 'village or neighbourhood policing
model'. Each office operates differently to suit the needs of
the neigh-bourhood. Local police officers work from the offices
and they are staffed by local volunteers.
The second and third type of offices are designed to provide
specific services in support of policing services within our
diverse community of neighbourhoods.
The issue of an appropriate City funding source for the Native
and Chinatown Police Storefronts has been an ongoing debate since
1993. In 1993 and 1994, Council provided two short-term grants
from Contingency Reserve pending a report from the Chief
Constable detailing the Department's community-based policing
strategies. That report, released in September 1994, referred to
the current initiatives in developing local police offices and
crime prevention offices, but did not specifically refer to the
already established Native and Chinatown Storefronts or address
the issue of funding.
As noted earlier, the Provincial Government, through the Ministry
of the Attorney General, will allocate funding of $80,000 per
Storefront per annum to April, 1997. This sum represents fifty
per cent of the projected operating budgets. In addition, the
two Storefronts have conducted fund-raising initiatives resulting
in $12,500 and $35,000 being raised annually.
The two Storefronts have expended a considerable amount of staff
and volunteer resources over the past two years in pursuing
stable operating funding. Council is recommended to fund $80,000
($40,000 per Storefront) and there is compelling support for
these requests in that the services provided by the two
Storefronts are city-wide. They are vastly different from the
other two types of community offices, and meet cultural and
safety needs which will not otherwise be addressed.
Council is further recommended to direct staff to report back
with recommendations for long-term funding initiatives.
CONCLUSION
There is an issue regarding the level of financial support the
City should commit to community policing. Given Council's desire
to hold property tax increases to the rate of inflation, and the
pressure experienced in the City's budget from other sources,
there is a limited amount of discretionary money available to
fund new programs.
The Director of Finance notes that the City's preferred model for
community policing reflects storefront operations staffed by
volunteers, with minimal financial support from the City, and
suggests that providing ongoing funding to the subject
Storefronts continues an undesirable precedent which may have
significant financial implications in the future.
The Chief Constable, on the other hand, supports the requests to
Council for additional 1995 funding, and the need to identify
sustaining funding sources beyond 1995 to ensure the financial
viability of these Storefront organizations in the longer term.
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