News aggregator
CCAP planning day shows DTES has a lot of heart
Unity, equality of all of us, acceptance, caring, a lot of diversity, compassion, respect, comfortable, a real community. These are some of the words that 30 people wrote on rocks at the Carnegie Community Action Project’s Planning Day on July 27th.
CCAP organized the day to get low-income residents to help develop a vision and [...]
DTES a little safer thanks to VANDU
Earlier this year, CCAP, BC Civil Liberties and Power of Women pressured the city to withdraw tickets given to low-income DTES residents for jaywalking, vending and other minor offences. These tickets were given out in a blitz and residents could end up in jail just in time for the 2010 games if they failed [...]
What would make you feel safe in the DTES?
Last week 20 or so DTES residents, mostly from VANDU, met the VPD at Chapel Arts near Oppenheimer. Pivot arranged for us to talk about these topics in small groups: What would the DTES look like if the streets were safer? Tell a story about a time that someone did or said something that made [...]
Creative juices flow at Town Hall about CCAP mapping project
Gena Thompson and Hugh Lampkin used slides to present results of the Carnegie Community Action Project’s mapping project to about 60 local residents and media at a town hall meeting at Carnegie on Sept. 22nd. About 200 low-income Downtown Eastside residents participated in community mapping sessions with CCAP over the last eight months or [...]
Coleman takes a swing on CBC
Thanks to everyone who gave me the heads up earlier, just got around to listening to Rich Coleman on CBC where he takes a shot at yours truly, which makes my day.
"David Eby has never delivered a social program or a housing unit for anybody in Vancouver ever, he’s ever critical whatever government wants to do."
Zing. And almost entirely true given his government's record to date and my lack of interest in delivering social programs or joining his department.
Coleman also notes that he's (1) in the DTES about once a week, where he (2) finds that service providers tell him "It's better down there than it's ever been."
Can we get fact check on those last two statements please?Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
"David Eby has never delivered a social program or a housing unit for anybody in Vancouver ever, he’s ever critical whatever government wants to do."
Zing. And almost entirely true given his government's record to date and my lack of interest in delivering social programs or joining his department.
Coleman also notes that he's (1) in the DTES about once a week, where he (2) finds that service providers tell him "It's better down there than it's ever been."
Can we get fact check on those last two statements please?Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Save the DTES women's march from VANOC and the cops
The world's most heavily publicly funded mega event is headed for a confrontation with what may be close to the world's least heavily publicly funded neighbourhood event.
In what may be the flashpoint for police/protester confrontation, or at the very least increase the ever growing stack of bad feelings about how VANOC has blown every single inner city inclusive commitment they've ever made (and some they didn't make but would have three years ago), the Downtown Eastside murdered and missing women march that takes place every February 14 is being asked to relocate to make way for Olympic traffic lanes.
Yes, you heard correctly.
The women behind the march have a description of the issue and their concerns, along with an online petition you can sign if you wish. Check it out here.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
In what may be the flashpoint for police/protester confrontation, or at the very least increase the ever growing stack of bad feelings about how VANOC has blown every single inner city inclusive commitment they've ever made (and some they didn't make but would have three years ago), the Downtown Eastside murdered and missing women march that takes place every February 14 is being asked to relocate to make way for Olympic traffic lanes.
Yes, you heard correctly.
The women behind the march have a description of the issue and their concerns, along with an online petition you can sign if you wish. Check it out here.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Media Release – Housing Minister plans to force homeless into shelters – or jail
For Immediate Release
Sept. 21, 2009
Forcing homeless into non-existent or cramped shelters is hypocritical and could be dangerous
The Housing Minister’s plan may force homeless people into shelters during cold, wet weather has numerous problems in addition to violating their civil rights. That’s the conclusion of the Carnegie Community Action Project after reading internal documents released to [...]
Community Court refuses to dish the dirt on its first year
The Community Court has declined to dish the dirt on its first year. Did it actually shift anyone out of a criminal lifestyle driven by poverty and desperation and into drug treatment, mental health treatment or housing? Who knows! But you'd never guess that the results had been anything less than totally awesome given recent media reports.
"Recidivism? We totally meant to track that, I guess we just forgot. Hey, we did get 209 people into housing or shelter though. Which one, housing or emergency shelters? Oh, guess we didn't track that very well either."
Check out my blog post on the Community of Interest blog on the issue.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
"Recidivism? We totally meant to track that, I guess we just forgot. Hey, we did get 209 people into housing or shelter though. Which one, housing or emergency shelters? Oh, guess we didn't track that very well either."
Check out my blog post on the Community of Interest blog on the issue.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Media Release
September 16, 2009
Unlimited condo development could wipe out good things about Downtown Eastside (DTES)
Most of the things low-income residents, who make up 70% of the DTES population, like about the DTES could be wiped out if the city continues to allow unlimited condo development in the area. That’s the conclusion of a report on [...]
VANOC's PR only thing that is transparent for Olympics
VANOC has just released a story to the media saying that counterfeit Olympic goods production is on the rise.
Oh, indeed? That's weird, because I haven't exactly seen 2010 Olympic materials flying off the shelves of my local store. Those must be some desperate counterfeiters. Increased by how much?
Bill Cooper, who's in charge of managing commercial rights for the Games . . . didn't have statistics of the total number of cases. . .
Oh, I see. But wouldn't that, um, near total absence of stats make it difficult for the media to conclude that conterfeit merchandise is on the rise, other than just because VANOC says so? I mean, the media would look to some kind of objective measure before just reporting whatever VANOC says, right? Like criminal charges or civil suits or injunctions?
However, despite dozens of significant seizures, Cooper says there have been no criminal charges associated with manufacturing or selling fake Games merchandise.
Dozens of significant seizures. Really significant. Trust us. On the rise. Big time. No further questions, please.
Just as a side note, the release of this non-story has nothing to do with the CBC's exposé of the volunteer VANOC brand police just two days ago.
I mean, just because that was super embarassing and VANOC needs to justify volunteers marching through the streets looking for brand violations and attempting to seize non-compliant materials [large PDF file, see pages 95 and 96], doesn't mean they'd just make up some crap story about a huge influx of counterfeit Quatchi dolls, right?
------------
Post script: Sigh, as much as I hate to admit that I'm wrong, I was wrong on this one. I'm advised by a reporter who I respect that this media event was in the works for a bit, and well before we issued our "check out this craziness" about the VANOC brand police. The point remains that it was a pretty crap story without any facts, but the timing was just a coincidence.
Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Oh, indeed? That's weird, because I haven't exactly seen 2010 Olympic materials flying off the shelves of my local store. Those must be some desperate counterfeiters. Increased by how much?
Bill Cooper, who's in charge of managing commercial rights for the Games . . . didn't have statistics of the total number of cases. . .
Oh, I see. But wouldn't that, um, near total absence of stats make it difficult for the media to conclude that conterfeit merchandise is on the rise, other than just because VANOC says so? I mean, the media would look to some kind of objective measure before just reporting whatever VANOC says, right? Like criminal charges or civil suits or injunctions?
However, despite dozens of significant seizures, Cooper says there have been no criminal charges associated with manufacturing or selling fake Games merchandise.
Dozens of significant seizures. Really significant. Trust us. On the rise. Big time. No further questions, please.
Just as a side note, the release of this non-story has nothing to do with the CBC's exposé of the volunteer VANOC brand police just two days ago.
I mean, just because that was super embarassing and VANOC needs to justify volunteers marching through the streets looking for brand violations and attempting to seize non-compliant materials [large PDF file, see pages 95 and 96], doesn't mean they'd just make up some crap story about a huge influx of counterfeit Quatchi dolls, right?
------------
Post script: Sigh, as much as I hate to admit that I'm wrong, I was wrong on this one. I'm advised by a reporter who I respect that this media event was in the works for a bit, and well before we issued our "check out this craziness" about the VANOC brand police. The point remains that it was a pretty crap story without any facts, but the timing was just a coincidence.
Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Battles in LA and DTES remarkably identical
Here's a great article I got from Ann Livingston about the struggles of the people who live in L.A.'s poorest neighbourhood. The parallels between this 'hood and the DTES are eerie: SRO conversion, police handing out thousands of jaywalking tickets, battles against discrimination. . .
Check it out here.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Check it out here.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Crap complaints system continues to amaze
Picture this friends.
A male police officer on patrol in the DTES, Mark Steinkampf, stops a woman on Hastings. He reaches into her bra, yes, her bra, and removes a glass crack pipe he can see there. He then crushes it under his boot, leaving glass shards on the sidewalk.
Following that remarkable display, in uniform, and on duty while working for you and me, he then goes on a tirade against Insite, the safe injection site, and harm reduction, both of which his department and the municipal council endorses as saving lives.
Oh, did I forget to mention?
This whole show is for the benefit of a journalist, Margaret Wente from the Globe and Mail, who duly reports the goings on in her own unique style. At no time in the article or since is correction or clarification given that these Mark's personal opinions, and not those of the VPD. In her article, Wente says that Steinkampf "heads the Downtown Eastside detail", which he sure doesn't and didn't at the time.
I, taking exception to the critique in the public uniform and in the publicly funded position of authority, file a third party complaint.
So what happens? The investigation takes a year. More than a year. I filed a third party complaint related to this on July 18, 2008. Here, today, in September of 2009, 14 months later, I'm told that in fact - aside from crushing the crack pipe under his foot - the officer acted entirely properly. It just took us fourteen months to figure that out.
As if.
The reaching into a woman's bra to pull out the crack pipe?
Even if Wente's recollection was accurate, 'the search was minimally intrusive and did not require Steinkampf to touch the woman or her clothing.'
This guy must be a master at the game Operation. What about the misrepresentation as the officer in charge of the DTES detail?
Ms. Wente advised that Sergeant Steinkampf had not misrepresented his role in the Downtown Eastside (DTES); she simply wanted to indicate that he had a position of some authority and supervisory responsibility.
Yes, I suppose it would have been a better story if he actually was what Wente said he was. Not that anybody cares about facts anymore when there's a good story to tell, or if it makes one sound more important than one actually is. Hence, no correction by Wente or Steinkampf.
What about the tirade against harm reduction while in uniform and on the clock to a journalist?
Sergeant Steinkampf's expression of what were clearly his personal views did not constitute a disciplinary default under the Police Act [. . .] there are many examples of members publicly expressing opinions at variance with VPD policy.
Clearly his personal views? Clearly? I guess nobody read this paragraph of Wente's piece:
The police - and many others - argue that well-intentioned but misguided social policies have turned this place into a vast enabling industry. Contrary to popular belief, the police have no desire to throw addicts in jail. They want to help them kick the habit and escape.
Yes, oh, it's so very clear that the Police, I mean, um, the head of the DTES detail, er, I mean Mark, has simply shared his own personal opinions. In uniform. While working.
At the very least, we can all agree that he shouldn't have stomped the glass crack pipe creating a hazard on the sidewalk and improperly disposing of evidence and/or property, right? Well, actually...
Considering all the circumstances, and in particular that the drugs (if any) consisted of residue on a piece of glass, the breach of policy is so minor that it falls within the de minimus doctrine and should be dealt with by way of managerial advice . . . the addition of a crushed crack pipe was a minimal contribution to the existing debris and garbage on the sidewalk, which included broken glass and dirty needles.
In short: Thank you for filing a complaint. Get bent, and have a nice day.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
A male police officer on patrol in the DTES, Mark Steinkampf, stops a woman on Hastings. He reaches into her bra, yes, her bra, and removes a glass crack pipe he can see there. He then crushes it under his boot, leaving glass shards on the sidewalk.
Following that remarkable display, in uniform, and on duty while working for you and me, he then goes on a tirade against Insite, the safe injection site, and harm reduction, both of which his department and the municipal council endorses as saving lives.
Oh, did I forget to mention?
This whole show is for the benefit of a journalist, Margaret Wente from the Globe and Mail, who duly reports the goings on in her own unique style. At no time in the article or since is correction or clarification given that these Mark's personal opinions, and not those of the VPD. In her article, Wente says that Steinkampf "heads the Downtown Eastside detail", which he sure doesn't and didn't at the time.
I, taking exception to the critique in the public uniform and in the publicly funded position of authority, file a third party complaint.
So what happens? The investigation takes a year. More than a year. I filed a third party complaint related to this on July 18, 2008. Here, today, in September of 2009, 14 months later, I'm told that in fact - aside from crushing the crack pipe under his foot - the officer acted entirely properly. It just took us fourteen months to figure that out.
As if.
The reaching into a woman's bra to pull out the crack pipe?
Even if Wente's recollection was accurate, 'the search was minimally intrusive and did not require Steinkampf to touch the woman or her clothing.'
This guy must be a master at the game Operation. What about the misrepresentation as the officer in charge of the DTES detail?
Ms. Wente advised that Sergeant Steinkampf had not misrepresented his role in the Downtown Eastside (DTES); she simply wanted to indicate that he had a position of some authority and supervisory responsibility.
Yes, I suppose it would have been a better story if he actually was what Wente said he was. Not that anybody cares about facts anymore when there's a good story to tell, or if it makes one sound more important than one actually is. Hence, no correction by Wente or Steinkampf.
What about the tirade against harm reduction while in uniform and on the clock to a journalist?
Sergeant Steinkampf's expression of what were clearly his personal views did not constitute a disciplinary default under the Police Act [. . .] there are many examples of members publicly expressing opinions at variance with VPD policy.
Clearly his personal views? Clearly? I guess nobody read this paragraph of Wente's piece:
The police - and many others - argue that well-intentioned but misguided social policies have turned this place into a vast enabling industry. Contrary to popular belief, the police have no desire to throw addicts in jail. They want to help them kick the habit and escape.
Yes, oh, it's so very clear that the Police, I mean, um, the head of the DTES detail, er, I mean Mark, has simply shared his own personal opinions. In uniform. While working.
At the very least, we can all agree that he shouldn't have stomped the glass crack pipe creating a hazard on the sidewalk and improperly disposing of evidence and/or property, right? Well, actually...
Considering all the circumstances, and in particular that the drugs (if any) consisted of residue on a piece of glass, the breach of policy is so minor that it falls within the de minimus doctrine and should be dealt with by way of managerial advice . . . the addition of a crushed crack pipe was a minimal contribution to the existing debris and garbage on the sidewalk, which included broken glass and dirty needles.
In short: Thank you for filing a complaint. Get bent, and have a nice day.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Bulletin #3
For Immediate Release
(Sent to over 800 international media contacts)
Olympic spending more important than homeless shelters or health and safety for sex workers in 2010 Olympic city
June 20, 2009, Vancouver, BC, Canada: Funding for homeless shelters in Vancouver, Canada is running out on June 30th and shelter staff have been given their termination notices. Funding for [...]
VPD recruiting blog straddles the blue line
In November of 2008, the VPD introduced a recruiting blog called Behind the Blue Line.
Narrated in the first person by Cst. Sandra Glendinning, now of the Dog Squad, the blog started awkwardly, with "official" communications of the VPD pasted verbatim into the blog text. From those tentative beginnings, Cst. Glendinning's blog has rapidly matured into a cutting edge example of the best practices of corporate social media: personal and professional blur, and the reader feels privy to inside, uncensored information about "what it's really like" in policing.
In the most recent blog posts, readers are exposed to the reality of shift work, the ethical dilemmas of policing poverty and addiction issues, the high action drama of a car chase, and humourous anecdotes involving children and the reality of remembering basic things like putting your car in park during the charged atmosphere of a high-action arrest.
Behind the Blue Line is a far cry from the painfully awkward "Beyond the Call" corporate newsletter that otherwise represents the public face of the officially infallible Vancouver Police Department.
Yet for all of the positive things about this blog humanizing the face of the local police, it remains challenging on a number of ethical levels.
First, it is impossible to ignore that freedom of expression is not a right generally enjoyed by police officers. Despite its informal feel, the blog and its author would quickly meet with the ignominious fate met by the Translink bus driver who blogged off script and without permission if the Constable's "musings" weren't officially sanctioned by a VPD official with a rank other than Constable.
Ironically, it is the blue line that is played on in the title of Cst. Glendinning's blog that represents this notorious cultural tendency to keeping secrets inside the policing family. What happens behind the blue line, stays behind the blue line. In one of her first entries, the Constable promises, quite honestly, that at best she will "blur" that line, not ignore it.
Despite the sense one gets comparing the historical entries and the current entries that the censor's leash (no pun intended for a dog squad officer) has been loosened, there is no acknowledgment, anywhere in the blog, that the site is an official publication of the Vancouver Police Department. Perhaps this provides cover for the brass if Cst. Glendinning goes too far off script and the error isn't caught by the communications department, but more likely the blog's planners felt an official acknowledgment of the blog's departmental oversight would ruin the reader experience.
Second, the blog reveals, between the blurred blue lines, troubling insights into what appear to be shared cultural beliefs and practices within the VPD. Witness the Constable, in an off-the-cuff manner, calling the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood "the Skids" in an otherwise quite compassionate August 17 entry about sex trade workers.
The Skids? Really?
See too the "amusing" anecdote about Cst. Glendinning's police dog keying on a fellow constable instead of the suspect. While this entry may have them rolling in the aisles at HQ, the humour is likely lost on civilians who are bitten by off target police dogs, and the question of the outcome of this serious error is left unanswered.
As heavily internally (at least) and externally (most likely) censored as Behind the Blue Line is, and as poorly as it reflects 90% of the true nature of policing in Vancouver - the investigation and prosecution of the rather unglamorous "crimes" of poverty, alcohol abuse and addiction - the blog represents a valuable insight into police culture. As the author acknowledges, the view is blurred, very blurred, but offers a baby step towards a true dialogue about the reality of police work in Vancouver.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Narrated in the first person by Cst. Sandra Glendinning, now of the Dog Squad, the blog started awkwardly, with "official" communications of the VPD pasted verbatim into the blog text. From those tentative beginnings, Cst. Glendinning's blog has rapidly matured into a cutting edge example of the best practices of corporate social media: personal and professional blur, and the reader feels privy to inside, uncensored information about "what it's really like" in policing.
In the most recent blog posts, readers are exposed to the reality of shift work, the ethical dilemmas of policing poverty and addiction issues, the high action drama of a car chase, and humourous anecdotes involving children and the reality of remembering basic things like putting your car in park during the charged atmosphere of a high-action arrest.
Behind the Blue Line is a far cry from the painfully awkward "Beyond the Call" corporate newsletter that otherwise represents the public face of the officially infallible Vancouver Police Department.
Yet for all of the positive things about this blog humanizing the face of the local police, it remains challenging on a number of ethical levels.
First, it is impossible to ignore that freedom of expression is not a right generally enjoyed by police officers. Despite its informal feel, the blog and its author would quickly meet with the ignominious fate met by the Translink bus driver who blogged off script and without permission if the Constable's "musings" weren't officially sanctioned by a VPD official with a rank other than Constable.
Ironically, it is the blue line that is played on in the title of Cst. Glendinning's blog that represents this notorious cultural tendency to keeping secrets inside the policing family. What happens behind the blue line, stays behind the blue line. In one of her first entries, the Constable promises, quite honestly, that at best she will "blur" that line, not ignore it.
Despite the sense one gets comparing the historical entries and the current entries that the censor's leash (no pun intended for a dog squad officer) has been loosened, there is no acknowledgment, anywhere in the blog, that the site is an official publication of the Vancouver Police Department. Perhaps this provides cover for the brass if Cst. Glendinning goes too far off script and the error isn't caught by the communications department, but more likely the blog's planners felt an official acknowledgment of the blog's departmental oversight would ruin the reader experience.
Second, the blog reveals, between the blurred blue lines, troubling insights into what appear to be shared cultural beliefs and practices within the VPD. Witness the Constable, in an off-the-cuff manner, calling the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood "the Skids" in an otherwise quite compassionate August 17 entry about sex trade workers.
The Skids? Really?
See too the "amusing" anecdote about Cst. Glendinning's police dog keying on a fellow constable instead of the suspect. While this entry may have them rolling in the aisles at HQ, the humour is likely lost on civilians who are bitten by off target police dogs, and the question of the outcome of this serious error is left unanswered.
As heavily internally (at least) and externally (most likely) censored as Behind the Blue Line is, and as poorly as it reflects 90% of the true nature of policing in Vancouver - the investigation and prosecution of the rather unglamorous "crimes" of poverty, alcohol abuse and addiction - the blog represents a valuable insight into police culture. As the author acknowledges, the view is blurred, very blurred, but offers a baby step towards a true dialogue about the reality of police work in Vancouver.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Paul Boyd family, friends, cops, left adrift by CJB
More than two years after shooting a mentally ill man to death on Granville street, involved Vancouver police officers are still waiting to find out whether they will be criminally charged.
After promising a final decision in the early August 2007 shooting by the end of August 2009, the Criminal Justice Branch (CJB) of BC has said that they're not deciding yet, and there's no date set for a decision.
The file remains open.
The clock keeps ticking.
Last time I spoke with the CJB in early August, the delay was due to the file being really big. Not when I spoke to them today. Today an expert report has yet to be received that was expected by the end of the month. In August 2010, the office dog will be blamed for eating the CJB's file, which was totally done, and they were so just about to make an announcement, but that darn dog.
Boyd, an animator, died after being shot multiple times by VPD. He apparently had a chain with him, and accounts vary about whether the chain was a bicycle combination lock or the chain that attaches to a crank on a bicycle.
We don't know how many times he was shot.
We don't know how many police officers shot him.
We don't even know what the official version of events is, was, or is expected to be beyond the VPD media lines released at the time of the shooting.
There has been no coroner's inquest, despite the fact that one must be held, by law, because there has been no decision on the criminal aspects of the case. An inquest hasn't even been scheduled.
Witnesses who saw the incident two years ago will be expected to testify at both the inquest and any criminal trial that might need to be scheduled, whenever that would happen, if they can even remember what happened.
There has been no discipline for the involved officers, if that were required, because that too depends on the criminal assessment being complete. The involved officers are surely still on duty, including the police officer(s) whose conduct was so bizarre that it has taken two years for highly trained senior government prosecutors who specialize in criminal law to decide whether or not to proceed with criminal charges. Not a good sign.
Boyd's family is now past the two year limitation period to sue the involved officers personally, if that were appropriate and there were any point under B.C.'s archaic wrongful death laws.
The Crown is now eighteen months past the six month summary offence limitation period to charge any involved officers with a less serious offence (the Canadian equivalent of a misdemeanor). That option is gone. Just the big sticks, indictable offences (Canadian felonies), remain as charging possibilities.
The Crown assessment in these matters is always: (1) Whether it is in the public interest to prosecute; and, (2) There is a reasonable possibility of conviction. Kind of undermines one's confidence, doesn't it, to know that delay on the part of the Crown could form part of the basis for deciding not to go ahead?
Would this ever, ever happen to a member of the public? All of the witnesses are known. All of the shooters are known. All of the ballistics are available. What, pray tell, what, is the problem here? How much coin flipping can be going on at CJB HQ?
Heads is charge, tails is don't charge.
Ok, flip.
Wait, what did you say heads was? Let's start again.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
After promising a final decision in the early August 2007 shooting by the end of August 2009, the Criminal Justice Branch (CJB) of BC has said that they're not deciding yet, and there's no date set for a decision.
The file remains open.
The clock keeps ticking.
Last time I spoke with the CJB in early August, the delay was due to the file being really big. Not when I spoke to them today. Today an expert report has yet to be received that was expected by the end of the month. In August 2010, the office dog will be blamed for eating the CJB's file, which was totally done, and they were so just about to make an announcement, but that darn dog.
Boyd, an animator, died after being shot multiple times by VPD. He apparently had a chain with him, and accounts vary about whether the chain was a bicycle combination lock or the chain that attaches to a crank on a bicycle.
We don't know how many times he was shot.
We don't know how many police officers shot him.
We don't even know what the official version of events is, was, or is expected to be beyond the VPD media lines released at the time of the shooting.
There has been no coroner's inquest, despite the fact that one must be held, by law, because there has been no decision on the criminal aspects of the case. An inquest hasn't even been scheduled.
Witnesses who saw the incident two years ago will be expected to testify at both the inquest and any criminal trial that might need to be scheduled, whenever that would happen, if they can even remember what happened.
There has been no discipline for the involved officers, if that were required, because that too depends on the criminal assessment being complete. The involved officers are surely still on duty, including the police officer(s) whose conduct was so bizarre that it has taken two years for highly trained senior government prosecutors who specialize in criminal law to decide whether or not to proceed with criminal charges. Not a good sign.
Boyd's family is now past the two year limitation period to sue the involved officers personally, if that were appropriate and there were any point under B.C.'s archaic wrongful death laws.
The Crown is now eighteen months past the six month summary offence limitation period to charge any involved officers with a less serious offence (the Canadian equivalent of a misdemeanor). That option is gone. Just the big sticks, indictable offences (Canadian felonies), remain as charging possibilities.
The Crown assessment in these matters is always: (1) Whether it is in the public interest to prosecute; and, (2) There is a reasonable possibility of conviction. Kind of undermines one's confidence, doesn't it, to know that delay on the part of the Crown could form part of the basis for deciding not to go ahead?
Would this ever, ever happen to a member of the public? All of the witnesses are known. All of the shooters are known. All of the ballistics are available. What, pray tell, what, is the problem here? How much coin flipping can be going on at CJB HQ?
Heads is charge, tails is don't charge.
Ok, flip.
Wait, what did you say heads was? Let's start again.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Does the VPD need an action movie star?
So every once in a while, something crosses my desk that is just so mind blowing, it's hard to comprehend. This link is one of those things. It has absolutely zero local connection, but I had to put it up. Let's file it under "Policing issues" and call it a day. Thanks to Kevin Kennedy for the heads up.
If you don't have time to watch the clip, action movie star Steven Segal has, for the past 20 years, apparently been working as a police officer in Jefferson Parish, Florida. No joke. A&E is making a "COPS"-esque series out of his "work" on the "streets."
Now that you surely need to view the clip, here's their promo.
I've objected in whatever media would listen to the RCMP making action movies out of their policing the social issues created by government underfunding welfare, criminalizing drugs, denying access to drug treatment, not building social housing, and failing to provide adequate mental health support.
I've never found much entertainment value in the misery of others.
But what is left to say when policing isn't being made into an action movie, but action movie stars are being made into police?
With more and more cameras on police, I guess it's not unreasonable to see police as movie stars, but something rubs me wrong about this, even if Segal seems like a better cop than the rest of the crew in the J.P., which isn't saying much. Witness, at 0:12 in the clip, "Tase him, tase him," at which point Steven says, "Everybody, calm down." Just ignore the part where he bashes the guy's head into the car door.
On second thought, maybe we should get our own action movie cop in B.C. I hear that Jean Claude Van Damme bought a penthouse in the Shaw Tower. Maybe he could work nights?Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
If you don't have time to watch the clip, action movie star Steven Segal has, for the past 20 years, apparently been working as a police officer in Jefferson Parish, Florida. No joke. A&E is making a "COPS"-esque series out of his "work" on the "streets."
Now that you surely need to view the clip, here's their promo.
I've objected in whatever media would listen to the RCMP making action movies out of their policing the social issues created by government underfunding welfare, criminalizing drugs, denying access to drug treatment, not building social housing, and failing to provide adequate mental health support.
I've never found much entertainment value in the misery of others.
But what is left to say when policing isn't being made into an action movie, but action movie stars are being made into police?
With more and more cameras on police, I guess it's not unreasonable to see police as movie stars, but something rubs me wrong about this, even if Segal seems like a better cop than the rest of the crew in the J.P., which isn't saying much. Witness, at 0:12 in the clip, "Tase him, tase him," at which point Steven says, "Everybody, calm down." Just ignore the part where he bashes the guy's head into the car door.
On second thought, maybe we should get our own action movie cop in B.C. I hear that Jean Claude Van Damme bought a penthouse in the Shaw Tower. Maybe he could work nights?Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Surrey anti-homeless plan stinks
Here's the link to my latest post on the Sun Community of Interest blog concerning Surrey's implemented plan to move the homeless out of various areas by using raw chicken crap.
You could not make this up.
Or, at least, I couldn't.
Watch the video of the crap and read the Surrey Leader story here.
Read my blog post here.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
You could not make this up.
Or, at least, I couldn't.
Watch the video of the crap and read the Surrey Leader story here.
Read my blog post here.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Park Board manager promises name will remain "Pigeon Park"
Yeah, so, in a bizarre coincidence (thanks likely due to park board Green Stuart MacKinnon who read my complaint on Facebook), a parks board manager told 24 Hours reporter Matt Kieltyka that the park at the corner of Carrall and Hastings will remain Pigeon Park, and will not be renamed, cough, Pioneer Place, as is listed on the construction site.
Let us remember, and recite out loud together, the various promises made by parks board project manager Alan Duncan in the article:
Promise #1:
"Nowhere will it say Pioneer Place. People know it as Pigeon Park and it'll say that in the park. It won't be called anything else."
Promise #2:
"There will be a lot more seating than there is now. We want it to feel like a living room."
Swell. Now let's make sure the police want it to feel like a living room too.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Let us remember, and recite out loud together, the various promises made by parks board project manager Alan Duncan in the article:
Promise #1:
"Nowhere will it say Pioneer Place. People know it as Pigeon Park and it'll say that in the park. It won't be called anything else."
Promise #2:
"There will be a lot more seating than there is now. We want it to feel like a living room."
Swell. Now let's make sure the police want it to feel like a living room too.Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Meet Pioneer Place, also known as Pigeon Park
Maybe I read this sign all wrong.
Maybe I'm oversensitive. But that's OK with me.
The DTES only has so many things to call its own, and oversensitivity tends to come with the turf sometimes when a whole segment of society wants to bulldoze another segment of society.
You know what I mean? OK, so stay with me here.
There's this park, a crappy little triangle of a park, located at the corner of Carrall and Hastings Streets in the DTES. Nothing much to speak of. Some interlocking brick, some concrete planters, a large wall of plywood beside an empty building, and several benches.
Such is Pigeon Park.
It is probably, per square foot, the most heavily used park in Vancouver. There's always lots of people hanging out. Some are drunk. Some are high. Some are not. All are sitting, or standing, or talking, or whatever the hell they want. It's a park for the people of the Downtown Eastside.
Everyone knows it's Pigeon Park, and for a park name, it's probably the most fitting park name in the world. Pigeons are birds that have managed, despite all odds, to survive in the urban environment. Pigeons are survivors.
Pigeons are also hated. Called nuisances. Fenced out, chased out, kicked when they're down. Probably a story that, good and bad, sounds all too familiar to many of the folks that use that park.
So when a park with the most appropriate name ever, recognized across the DTES and embraced and appreciated, is completely closed and then relabeled with its "official" name, a name that is probably very offensive to the disproportionately aboriginal community that uses the park, a name that is also perfect in its own awful way in that it speaks of a history of colonialism, oppression, and the leading edge of a wave of a new kind of people arriving to displace the locals, it kind of sucks.
Maybe whoever made the sign figures Pigeon Park is now the place for upper class pioneers who look a lot more like me than like Frank Paul, but it's a bit brash to put that on a sign, don't you think? Or maybe the sign maker just didn't think about it at all.
I can't tell what's worse.
[Thanks and appreciation to Steph S. and Stuart M. for their thoughts and input]Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
Maybe I'm oversensitive. But that's OK with me.
The DTES only has so many things to call its own, and oversensitivity tends to come with the turf sometimes when a whole segment of society wants to bulldoze another segment of society.
You know what I mean? OK, so stay with me here.
There's this park, a crappy little triangle of a park, located at the corner of Carrall and Hastings Streets in the DTES. Nothing much to speak of. Some interlocking brick, some concrete planters, a large wall of plywood beside an empty building, and several benches.
Such is Pigeon Park.
It is probably, per square foot, the most heavily used park in Vancouver. There's always lots of people hanging out. Some are drunk. Some are high. Some are not. All are sitting, or standing, or talking, or whatever the hell they want. It's a park for the people of the Downtown Eastside.
Everyone knows it's Pigeon Park, and for a park name, it's probably the most fitting park name in the world. Pigeons are birds that have managed, despite all odds, to survive in the urban environment. Pigeons are survivors.
Pigeons are also hated. Called nuisances. Fenced out, chased out, kicked when they're down. Probably a story that, good and bad, sounds all too familiar to many of the folks that use that park.
So when a park with the most appropriate name ever, recognized across the DTES and embraced and appreciated, is completely closed and then relabeled with its "official" name, a name that is probably very offensive to the disproportionately aboriginal community that uses the park, a name that is also perfect in its own awful way in that it speaks of a history of colonialism, oppression, and the leading edge of a wave of a new kind of people arriving to displace the locals, it kind of sucks.
Maybe whoever made the sign figures Pigeon Park is now the place for upper class pioneers who look a lot more like me than like Frank Paul, but it's a bit brash to put that on a sign, don't you think? Or maybe the sign maker just didn't think about it at all.
I can't tell what's worse.
[Thanks and appreciation to Steph S. and Stuart M. for their thoughts and input]Visit pivotlegal.org for more information about Vancouver's low-income housing crisis.
