BAD DRIVERS BENEFIT FROM DRUG CRACKDOWN

The redeployment of a third of the Vancouver Police Department's
motorcycle squad to a 60-cop team busting drug dealers in the Downtown
Eastside has resulted in a "substantial" drop in the number of tickets
handed out to motorists.

Although Insp. Al Boyd, head of the traffic squad, wouldn't supply
statistics, he said the loss of 12 motorcycle cops to the city-wide
enforcement team April 7 has meant fewer officers on the road looking
out for bad driving.

"Traffic [squad] is definitely suffering," Boyd said.

The department announced last Wednesday it will extend the three-month
crackdown into August, using the same number of cops. The Downtown
Eastside blitz was originally supposed to run until early July, and
then continue indefinitely with a much smaller police presence.

"It's a very difficult thing," Boyd said. "It is a priority, it's
important to the people down there, but the problem is we just don't
have enough police, and traffic enforcement is a very important issue
city-wide."

He said studies have shown a spike in motor vehicle accidents when the
public knows fewer traffic cops are working the streets. That hasn't
happened yet, and Boyd is hoping his motorcycle cops will soon be
returned to traffic enforcement and other duties, including working
demonstrations and parades, escorting VIP vehicles and attending
community fairs and schools. Redeployment has meant much of that work
has been curtailed, Boyd said.

"The Chief [Jamie Graham] has to make a determination what his
priority is in the city, and the rest of us kind of fall in line with
that. But you can appreciate from where I stand, it's very important
to have those people back."

Insp. Bob Rich, police commander for the Downtown Eastside, said the
drop in tickets isn't surprising, considering the number of motorcycle
cops redeployed for the Downtown Eastside enforcement team.

"Not for one minute did we expect it to be otherwise," Rich said.
"What a manager does is look at the files that he can assign his
people to investigate, and certain things fall off the table. Well,
there's no doubt that more is falling off the table."

Rich said it's difficult to "quantify" the effect the redeployment of
cops has had on other squads, but noted traffic enforcement has the
most cops dedicated to the city-wide enforcement team.

Even before the launch of the team, Rich said the force's various
squads were having trouble answering every call because of stretched
resources. "People are always having to let less urgent or less
critical matters go."

Bev Ballantyne of Putting Pedestrians First said the police department
should reevaluate its priorities, and put a lot more cops on the
streets to nab dangerous drivers. Ballantyne said the number of
traffic-related injuries and deaths far outweighs the toll from
violent crimes, pointing out about 50 pedestrians a month are hit by
vehicles in Vancouver.

"We should be focusing on bad driving, and we're simply not," she
said. "The resources are not being put where the laws are being
broken, and where the greatest risk is of people dying."

Last year, six pedestrians in Vancouver died after being struck by
vehicles, while six people died in motor vehicle accidents. So far
this year, three pedestrians have died and two people have been killed
in motor vehicle accidents, said Const. Sarah Bloor, media liaison for
the Vancouver police department.