The Vancouver Police Department issued the following statement today (April 23):

VPD AGREES WITH PIVOT

We would like to thank Pivot Legal for bringing to our attention an email sent to some city residents apparently urging them to call 911 if they see a "beggar." This is a mistake. This is not the position of the Vancouver Police Department and never has been.

We agree with Pivot that this would be a waste of police resources and that we should be concentrating those resources on issues of public safety, such as the massive gang arrests and charges revealed in today's Project Rebellion release.

To clarify, the Vancouver Police Department does not object to panhandlers, and one only has to look at the number of panhandlers on City streets to know that we do not take action unless a law is broken.

The VPD does, however, take issue with any illegal behavior by panhandlers or anyone else. Action is only taken against anyone panhandling when they are violating the Safe Streets or Trespass Acts or the City Bylaw in relation to aggressive panhandling, obstructing, failing to leave private property or any other prohibited act.

We encourage citizens to report aggressive or intimidating panhandlers; otherwise it is not an illegal act and not a police issue. The same policy applies across the city and is not specific to only one neighborhood or area.

The Vancouver Police Department supports all endeavors to assist people who are panhandling with proper, safe, secure and supportive housing and other means to improve their lives.

Constable Anne Longley

The VPD statement followed this press release issued by Pivot Legal Society today (April 23):

Call 911 on “beggars”, says VPD

April 23, 2009 – For immediate release

The Vancouver Police Department is instructing Dunbar residents to call 911 whenever they see “beggars” on Dunbar Street.

“The Vancouver Police Department has instructed Dunbar Community Patrollers to call 911 when they see beggars on Dunbar Street and I would urge you to do so too,” wrote Linda MacAdam, Chair of the Dunbar Community Patrol, in an email to residents. MacAdam noted that these instructions were confirmed by Sergeant Randy Regush of the Vancouver Police Department.

Vancouver ranked last among 13 North American cities surveyed in terms of police response times, according to a 2007 report to Vancouver city council. The report called for increased funding for police officers to address the slow response times, which for a 911 break and enter call stretch to 34 minutes on average. The current yearly VPD budget is over $195 million, almost one-quarter of the City’s total budget.

“In 2008 Vancouver police spent thousands of hours ticketing Downtown Eastside residents for minor bylaw infractions, and in the West Side they treat legal panhandling as a 911 emergency,” says Laura Track, Pivot’s housing campaign lawyer. “Every year the VPD asks for more funding, but people need to ask if harassing poor people is how they should be spending that money.”

"This is just another example of a broader pattern of criminalizing poverty and restricting poor people's lawful access to public space."

"I was shocked to see this message advocating that we call 911 when we see a beggar" syas Randy Puder, a West Side resident. "What a waste of tax money. The homeless need compassion and assistance, not police making their lives even more difficult."