STREET SMART COP GETS THE BOOT

Dave Dickson is leaving.

That name might mean nothing to you, but it's widely known in the
Downtown Eastside.

Dickson spent more than 20 years walking the DTES beat as a member of
the Vancouver Police Department. Now retired, Dickson works as the sex
trade liaison for the VPD.

The liaison position was created two years ago--for Dickson--to help
bridge the gap between law enforcement and the street.

Almost every day, the 57-year-old Dickson travels from his Surrey home
to the syringe-speckled streets and alleys of the DTES. He doesn't
have an office or a budget. He relies on street smarts, honed during
his days on the force. He's on a first-name basis with prostitutes,
drug addicts, street people and government and non-government workers
in the area.

His relationship with prostitutes is unprecedented. He's the only man
allowed inside the WISH women's shelter. His contacts on the street,
combined with his access to police computers, help him locate missing
persons for organizations such as Strathcona Mental Health.

While he's officially a VPD liaison, Dickson is much more. He's a
protector, investigator and helping hand for a troubled population
rife with addiction and disease. He's respected, even feared, by
neighbourhood predators. He exudes common sense and compassion, and
he's exactly what the neighbourhood needs.

Dickson should be instructing rookie VPD officers on DTES procedure.
He should be cloned and stationed on every street corner. But instead,
he's leaving. His contract ends Aug. 15 and the VPD, which pays his
salary, told Dickson he's not wanted anymore. An active police officer
will take his place. Dickson wasn't given a clear explanation for his
dismissal. And he won't speculate. It's hard to figure, but theories
abound.

Aside from being a topflight street cop, Dickson is an outspoken
critic of Vancouver's so-called "harm reduction" policies, which
include the Insite safe injection site on East Hastings Street and the
DTES's small village of methadone clinics.

Dickson believes harm reduction is the most destructive government
policy instituted in the DTES during his 28 years of service. "The
harm reduction thing is so out of control," he says. "That whole
philosophy has been abused horribly."

Treat addiction like a disease, he says. Don't feed the disease
without supplying a mandatory avenue for treatment. Change the
culture--don't perpetuate it.

Criticizing harm reduction can be dangerous. Prominent citizens with
big-time titles next to their names have bet their reputations on this
largely untested strategy.

Acknowledging a failed policy is one thing. But a failed policy which
promotes destructive behaviour in Canada's most troubled neighbourhood
is another thing entirely. Nobody wants that blood on their hands.

And so public indictments of harm reduction must be delayed long
enough for memories to fade, so policy architects can slip quietly out
the back door. Dissenting voices must be silenced.

Like his predecessor Larry Campbell, NPA Mayor Sam Sullivan made harm
reduction a key tenet of his policy platform. In June, VPD Chief Jim
Chu muzzled VPD Insp. John McKay after McKay publicly criticized Insite.

Last year, harm reduction proponents in B.C.'s medical community--led
by UBC's Dr. John Hepburn--wrote a scolding letter to Prime Minister
Stephen Harper after the Conservatives dared question Insite's
effectiveness in combating addiction.

While Dickson's dismissal may be unrelated to his views on harm
reduction, it's still a mistake, added to the growing list of offences
which helped create the current quagmire in the DTES.

History will record today's harm reduction champions as some our
city's greatest bunglers. Dave Dickson will be a footnote, recognized
only by people he met on the street.