The Vancouver Police Department’s 2009 business plan won’t include targets for an increase in the number of tickets to be slapped on people in the Downtown Eastside.

The draft business plan presented at the January 21 meeting of the Vancouver police board indicated that there would be a 20-percent increase in tickets for City of Vancouver bylaw violations this year.

The draft plan also provided for a 10-percent increase in charges for violations of the Safe Streets Act and the Trespass Act, both provincial laws.

It likewise specified that VPD members assigned in the general area of Downtown Eastside would make a specified number of street checks per block.

These targets are gone from the 2009 business plan that the VPD is presenting this Wednesday (March 18) for approval by the police board, chaired by Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson.

Pivot Legal Society lawyer Doug King told the Straight that his group called for the removal of these targets at a recent meeting with police Chief Jim Chu and other police officials.

“It remains to be seen whether or not they’ll take it out from the actual practice,” King said by phone. “They took it out from paper.”

The new plan states that “there will be effective use of the Safe Streets and Trespass Act in appropriate circumstances”.

Like the previous draft, the new plan seeks to eliminate street vending in the Downtown Eastside by the end of this year.

It will also involve an increase in the number of police officers patrolling the neighbourhood.