FEDERAL APPROACH TO PUNISHMENT DOESN'T FIT CITY'S CRIME STRATEGY

The federal government's new approach to fighting crime by putting
more people behind bars might not mesh with Vancouver's harm reduction
strategy, says a Vancouver city councillor.

"They are looking at more of an agenda that revolves around
incarceration and using incarceration as a tool against drug
trafficking," said NPA Coun. Kim Capri.

Capri met last week with Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day and
Senior Regional Minister Chuck Strahl as the two members of the ruling
federal Conservative government visited Vancouver last week to talk
about the federal government's recent initiatives against big city
crime. The two met with local police officials and city and provincial
politicians, including Capri, the NPA's designated law and order czar,
for a roundtable discussion.

Capri said the meeting went well. "They basically listened to what we
had to say, and they seemed open to a working relationship," said
Capri, a former parole officer and past volunteer with the Vancouver
Police Victim Services Unit.

But she suggested the Conservatives get-tough approach might not mesh
with Vancouver's harm reduction strategies. She added that the federal
government needs to increase funding for local housing, and she urged
more federal government consultation with local community groups like
the Salvation Army and the John Howard Society.

The federal government is spending more than $1 billion over the next
two years in several new crime-fighting initiatives across Canada. The
bulk of the money will go to the RCMP and to programs to combat the
illegal drug trade. Capri hopes to see federal funding of Vancouver
Police Department initiatives in the future, although she is not
holding her breath. "They are still trying to figure out how to get
that support to municipal forces," she said.

The B.C. Crime Prevention Association, an organization Capri once
headed, will see a yet undetermined portion of the new federal money
for programs like Vancouver Crime Watch and Crime Free Multi-Housing
that address "crime and nuisance activity" around the city.

"We have a group of citizens who volunteer to act as the eyes and ears
of their community," said Colleen Kerr, a program director with the
association. "They report activities that the police can't get to
right away."

Ann Livingston, executive director of VANDU, an advocacy organization
for the impoverished and addicted residents of the Downtown Eastside,
said Vancouver harm reduction organizations like VANDU receive no
federal money. She said Ottawa is not focusing on the root causes of
crime in cities like Vancouver-despite the federal government's
continued support of the InSite safe injection program.

"We have to look much more closely and creatively at crime to come up
with solutions," she said, adding that law enforcement initiatives
that rely heavily on incarceration make no sense in Vancouver's
drug-riddled neighbourhoods. "That type of approach hasn't worked
anywhere else in the world, so I don't see how it could work here."

Livingston said public events like last week's roundtable panel-that
rely on anti-crime slogans and talking points-add to the alienation of
the less fortunate, and the people who support them.

"Anybody who speaks up against a so-called crime-fighting initiative
looks like they are for more violence and crime," she said. "It's a
pretty polarizing strategy."