POLICE BOWING OUT OF NON-FATAL OVERDOSE RESPONSES

The Vancouver Police Board is expected to pass a new policy today
that will see police only respond to drug overdoses if they're fatal,
or public safety is at risk.

Currently, police respond to about 3,800 calls a year where they
assist paramedics, the majority of which are drug-related, said Insp.
Ken Frail, who will present the only policy of its kind in Canada to
the police board.

"What value do we add when we attend a medical emergency call? If
it's non-fatal and the drugs have been consumed, do we provide any
benefit to the public in attending? And I would say, 'No we don't.'

"If you phone for an ambulance, you'll get an ambulance. You won't
get the police unless there's a specific need for us to attend."

Forty-nine people in Vancouver died of a drug overdose last year, a
sharp decrease from 1998, when 191 people died. Fatal drug overdoses
are on the decline again this year, and Frail is hoping the number
will further dip under the new policy.

Pointing to the results of a South Australian study, Frail said drug
overdose deaths dropped by six per cent after police there
implemented the same policy, largely because addicts and witnesses
were more willing to call for help knowing police wouldn't be
responding to non-fatal calls.

Some addicts are afraid they'll face a drug charge if police respond
to an overdose call. But in his 28 years as a cop, 10 in the Downtown
Eastside, Frail has never heard of an overdose victim being charged.

"We're going to be telling our officers that when contemplating
laying charges, we would be asking them to consider the greater public good."

Frail said the policy has been three years in the making and is not
connected to the police department's current lack of resources in the
wake of a slew of retirements.

Chuck Parker, president of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users,
said any policy shift that helps save lives is a "step in the right
direction." "We don't need the overkill at overdoses, where the cops,
ambulance and firefighters all show up," said Parker, who lives in
the Downtown Eastside. "We've already got enough cops in our
community, as it is."

John Strohmaier, president of the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C., also
supports the new policy, noting it could help paramedics save lives,
especially if witnesses-including those who help inject addicts-know
they can stay with the overdose victim and not get charged.

"A history of what happened [to the overdose victim] is a very
important piece of the puzzle," Strohmaier said. "But let's not
forget, the paramedic isn't much good to anybody if their safety is
being jeopardized, so we would certainly have to ensure there would
be no concerns for the paramedics' safety."