MAINLAND CRACKDOWN WORRIES MAYOR

Vancouver's Addicts Could Be Pushed Onto Victoria Streets:
Fortin

Some local politicians are concerned a police crackdown in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside could push more of the poor and drug-addicted onto
Victoria and Nanaimo city streets.

"We are worried in the lead-up to the Olympics that there will be
displacement. So we're looking forward to the opportunity to meet with
Vancouver's mayor and council to discuss this," Victoria Mayor Dean
Fortin said recently.

Fortin said cities must deal with social disorder, but if it's done in
isolation, it can have unintended consequences.

Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan said he shares Fortin's concerns and plans
to meet with the Victoria mayor in coming weeks to discuss it and
other issues.

In what civil libertarians worry is the start of an Olympics street
cleansing -- but Vancouver police say is simply part of a plan to deal
with street disorder -- police officers issued 1,264 tickets in the
Downtown Eastside in December.

Of those, 892 were for infractions such as illegal vending and
jaywalking. The remaining 372 were for offenses such as riding a
bicycle without a helmet.

While police say the goal of the crackdown is to make streets safer,
social activist and civil liberties groups -- including the Pivot
Legal Society, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, AIDS groups and
the Anti-Poverty Committee -- say police have ramped up enforcement to
clean the streets in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Games.

Ruttan said there's no indication from police the crackdown has had a
spillover effect on Nanaimo, but it might be too early to tell.

"But as summer draws near we may see that start to develop and as we
get into fall and start to head into the Olympics next spring, that's
what we're worried about," he said.

Victoria Coun. Philippe Lucas, who has tracked police enforcement
efforts as part of his master's program, said the concern of
displacement is legitimate.

"I think it is something we have to keep monitoring and I think more
than anything else, we should hope that our police in Vancouver and
Victoria are using effective evidence-based strategies."

Lucas said the so-called broken-window approach of "arresting anyone
for any crime," regardless of how minor, doesn't work.

The broken-window theory is that minor crimes such as vandalism, if
left unchecked, can lead to more significant crimes.

Victoria police Chief Jamie Graham, a past chief of the Vancouver
force, said approaches to policing in the Downtown Eastside are cyclical.

He rejected the suggestion people would be deliberately moved in
anticipation of the Olympics.

"I've been a part of the most senior discussions at the security level
dealing with Olympic planning, and there's never been even a
discussion that we're going to crank up enforcement for the purposes
of moving people out," Graham said.

At the same time, he said, being poor shouldn't put someone above the
law.