CITY HALL
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR VANCOUVER
29 July 1996
MEMO TO: Members of Council
FROM: Mayor Philip Owen
SUBJECT: MAYOR S URBAN SAFETY COMMISSION
As I travel around Vancouver each week to a variety of events, I
constantly hear citizens say that they have a strong affection for
Vancouver and that they feel fortunate to live in this great City. Many
things contribute to making a community a place where people want to
live - good housing, schools, shopping, parks and community centres. But
without confidence in their personal safety, people cannot be
comfortable and involved in the community. When people believe they are
not safe, streets, parks and public spaces become hostile places.
Many people believe our standards are slipping, in large and small ways.
They point to gangs, drug trafficking and prostitution - issues that
seem to go unpunished. They see property theft statistics soaring. They
see their sense of community attacked in a myriad of small ways --
needles in school yards, windshield washers who jump out to their cars
when they stop at an intersection, aggressive panhandlers, abusive
individuals, late night businesses that cater to noisy crowds,
prostitution, auto theft, shoplifting, graffiti, proliferation of pawn
shops selling stolen property, unlicensed street buskers, ticket
scalping, illegal vending, illegal postering and noisy motorcycles.
They would like to see these things -- large and small -- change, and
so would I. To quote the Mayor of New York, Lesser offences create an
atmosphere of fear and disorder that sets the stage for major crime . As
Mayor and Chair of the Police Board, I know the efforts City Council
and the Police Department are making, but I also understand the
constraints we are working under. I am proposing the formation of the
Mayor s Urban Safety Commission to look into ways the City can encourage
other levels of government to work with the City Council and the
Vancouver Police Department to solve these issues. This will not be just
another committee to produce yet another study. It will be focussed
toward achieving specific results.
There are many spheres of responsibility within the Canadian criminal
justice system - the Vancouver Police, the R.C.M.P., the Provincial
Attorney General, the Federal Minister of Justice and the Judiciary. To
deal with these many layers of jurisdiction I propose that the Urban
Safety Commission work to identify specific areas of concern that cause
frustration in the system.
City Council and staff have worked hard to maintain a high quality of
life, both through investments in amenities and services, and through
maintenance of a high standard of policing. The City can only do so
much, however. Already, about 20 percent of the City budget is devoted
to police services. There is additional enforcement as our Permits and
Licences staff administer city bylaws against businesses that disrupt
neighbourhoods. Yet our resources and our legal authority to protect
these standards are limited. We are part of a larger system, where the
Federal Government and the Provincial Government legislate against crime
and provide the framework for regulation of businesses and individuals.
Vancouver authority in this area is constrained by the limitations of
the Vancouver Charter which is controlled by the Provincial Government.
Here are some examples of the kinds of legal frustrations that the City
must deal with.
- There are a great number of people in Vancouver avoiding justice in
other parts of Canada because of non-returnable warrants. As an
example, law officers in many Eastern Canadian cities will only
travel 150 miles outside their city to apprehend a person wanted
for a serious offence. Failure to apprehend means these individuals
are a drain on our police resources as they remain on our streets,
in most instances involved in illicit activities. We will work with
the B.C. Attorney General and the Minister of Justice to mandate
police departments in other cities to apprehend persons with
outstanding warrants from their jurisdiction.
In 1995 the Vancouver Police Department charged over 50 johns with
soliciting prostitutes, some of whom were juveniles. The majority
of these johns received unconditional discharges. Over two-thirds
of these people lived outside Vancouver. We will continue to work
with the judiciary to devise more effective deterrents, including
larger fines and penalties.
The City has limited power to deal with problem premises. Examples
of problem premises are all-night markets that act as drug
distribution centres and pawnshops that are little more than
fencing operations for stolen goods. Under current laws it can take
several months and hundreds of hours of staff time before Council
can require an owner to show cause why a license should not be
suspended or cancelled. An owner can simply transfer the business
license to a relative or friend - the process is halted, and the
City must start from the
beginning to lay new charges. The Mayor s Urban Safety Commission
will work to revise the City s bylaws and to have Provincial
legislation changed to strengthen our enforcement powers.
Although there is still much to do, I think it is important to recognize
that we have accomplished a great deal to improve the quality of life in
our City. In 1991 Vancouver City Council created a Safer City Task
Force. The Task Force produced a number of recommendations, most of
which Council approved and referred to staff for implementation. In the
past year the Interim Advisory Commission on Safer City Initiatives has
worked hard to review existing municipal policies and procedures. The
members have created a body of information which will help us identify
issues of continuing concern and prepare an action plan to bring about a
safe urban environment.
Current City Council, Police Department and Safer City initiatives
include:
- IMPLEMENTING A COMMUNITY-BASED POLICING STRATEGY
INCREASING THE ANNUAL VANCOUVER POLICE BUDGET 33 PER CENT SINCE
1990 - FROM $75 MILLION TO OVER $100 MILLION PER YEAR
- INTENSIFYING ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROBLEM PREMISES
PASSING NEW PAWN SHOP LEGISLATION TO LIMIT THE NUMBER OF PAWN SHOPS
AND THE FENCING OF STOLEN GOODS
FACILITATING THE SAFE RIDE PROGRAM TO STREAMLINE A SUPPORT SYSTEM
FOR ADDICTED PEOPLE THAT ELIMINATES DUPLICATION OF SERVICES BY
POLICE, FIRE AND AMBULANCE
- INTRODUCING GUIDELINES FOR CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL
DESIGN THAT ARE APPLICABLE TO NEW COMMERCIAL AND MULTIFAMILY
DEVELOPMENTS
- ESTABLISHING NEIGHBOURHOOD INTEGRATED SERVICE TEAMS TO PROVIDE A
BROAD RANGE OF CITY SERVICES TO CITIZENS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES AND
NEIGHBOURHOODS
ESTABLISHING A PROGRAM TO REDUCE GRAFFITI
We intend to do more, but in many areas we are limited by existing
legislation and the inability of the Justice system to deal effectively
with minor offences. We need to look at the issues that affect people
the most and erodes their confidence and sense of community, and we need
to make sure we have the appropriate legal and administrative
capabilities to attack those issues.
Members of Council, staff, the Police Board, the Police Department, and
most important, our citizens, have told me that we must address these
issues. Deinstitutionalisation, addiction, parole, sentencing, lack of
community resources - there is no question that these are difficult and
sensitive issues. Nor does the City have all the expertise required to
resolve these issues. But the City, the Police Department and the
community together can make a difference. We not only need to build on
what we have done, but go beyond it.
The Commission will work to ensure that senior governments are doing
what only they can do in providing an appropriate legal framework and a
justice system that works.
The Mayor s Urban Safety Commission will draw on the work of the Safer
City Initiatives and the expertise and experience in our community to
define the problems and suggest changes. Then the Commission will work
to persuade senior governments take those steps and to communicate this
information to the Judiciary.
The Mayor s Urban Safety Commission will include the following
distinguished Vancouver citizens, with myself as Chair:
Mr. Art Phillips - Former Vancouver Mayor and Police Board
Chair
Mr. Patrick Reid - Commissioner of Expo 86, Former
Port Corporation Chair
Ms. Shirley Stocker - Media Executive Producer,
former President and current member of Crimestoppers
Councillor Lynne Kennedy
The Commission s mandate will be:
- TO IDENTIFY KEY ISSUES AFFECTING THE SAFETY AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF
VANCOUVER RESIDENTS AND VISITORS
- TO IDENTIFY LIMITATIONS IN THE PRESENT LAWS AND PROCESSES WHICH
RESTRICT THE CITY S ABILITY TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES
- TO MAKE LEGISLATORS AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AWARE OF THESE ISSUES,
AND THE IMPACT OF LEGISLATION AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS ON OUR
ABILITY TO MANAGE OUR COMMUNITY
- TO PROPOSE AND LOBBY FOR CHANGES IN LEGISLATION AND GOVERNMENT
PROGRAMS
To supplement the Commissioners knowledge, additional expertise will be
provided through City and Police Department staff, including Chief
Constable Ray Canuel, Deputy City Manager Judy Rogers and City Clerk
Maria Kinsella.
This is uncharted territory, and there will no be quick answers. The
map to find our way to maintain the quality and safety of our
communities will have to be charted in small steps. The Commission will
present a report to Council and the Police Board in the Spring of 1997.
The new Council, with most of its mandate ahead of it, will be in a good
position to achieve change. With strong citizen support, we can create
the framework and work to acquire the tools we need to keep Vancouver
the place everyone wants to live, work and visit.
Commissioners and expert advisors will be volunteers. There will be no
full time staff. However, support services and some operating costs
will be required. The City Clerk has estimated these costs will be
$30,000 for the first year of the Commission s operation.
I RECOMMEND that Council endorse the creation of the Commission and its
mandate, and agree to support its work through the allocation from
Contingency Reserve of $30,000 for support services through May 1997.
Philip W. Owen,
MAYOR