COPS $5 MILLION IN THE RED

The Vancouver Police Department projects a $5 million deficit for
2004, which critics say is a direct result of its unilateral crackdown
on the Downtown Eastside.

City staff will report to council this week on the VPD's spending,
which will result in a citywide $2 million deficit if it's not addressed.

The city was predicting a $3 million or greater budget surplus because
of increased permit and licensing fees, according to Annette Klein,
Vancouver's director of budget services.

The Vancouver Charter prohibits the city from running a deficit at the
end of the year. But even with the more than $500,000 set aside for
snow removal, Klein said the city is still on the hook for the $2
million difference, which could worsen if a major snowfall hits.

The VPD will need to cut its costs before year's end. Klein said Chief
Jamie Graham has promised to reduce spending by cutting overtime
hours. Whatever cannot be cut back will come out of the the city's
budget.

"I don't think we're going to mitigate $5 million," said VPD
spokesperson Sarah Bloor. "I think it's fair to say we're going to
have an overage."

The VPD spent more than it budgeted on computer expenses, E-Comm
repairs, and even its dry cleaning bill, but the bulk of its deficit
came from overtime wages.

At the current rate, the VPD will spend more than $6 million in
overtime wages this year, for which the department only budgeted $2
million. Bloor said the overtime was necessary after a mass retirement
last year that left the department short 140 officers.

More than 90 per cent of the police budget is allocated to salaries,
Bloor said. The bulk of the overtime has gone toward training new
officers, patrolling late night bar hours and aggressive action on the
Downtown Eastside.

"There are expenses and unfortunately, we're not a cost recovery
agency. We're not an agency that can charge to recover our debt," Bloor said.

John Richardson, executive director for the Pivot Legal Society said
the police deficit was "entirely predictable." "It underlines a real
flaw in the budgeting process. The police do what they want and then
they submit their deficits to the City of Vancouver," Richardson said.

He said the VPD deficit is a byproduct of the City-Wide Enforcement
Team and its crackdown on the Downtown Eastside.

Last April, the department's request to fund the enforcement team was
rejected by council. "It wasn't what the police envisioned. They had
their own plan that involved the crackdown that they wanted to do.
They did it without getting the other people on board with it,"
Richardson said.

The 68-strong enforcement team has been credited with breaking up the
open drug market, closing problem businesses and banning outside
troublemakers from the neighbourhood in the past year. But according
to the city budget review, the Downtown Eastside only accounted for $1
million of police overtime costs.

Richardson said the crackdown has merely pushed the drug trade into
other jurisdictions. "It just underlines that the Vancouver city
council has no control over the police budget," Richardson said.