POLICE SAY THEY'VE REDUCED DRUG SCENE DANGERS

I would like to clarify information cited in the May 8 editorial
"Contradictory reports show four pillars are essential."

First, the Human Rights Watch report is so hopelessly flawed that it can
have little credibility. This is unfortunate because some of the legitimate
concerns it raises -- such as health effects on addicts -- are deserving of
attention. But they are lost in the litany of bizarre hearsay allegations.
Some of the allegations are demonstrably false, others reflect a lack of
understanding of the law and all of them are coloured by the ideological
prism through which they were viewed.

This report is unfair to my officers, whom I observe every day behaving in
a professional and compassionate manner in very difficult circumstances
while trying to bring order to a violent, chaotic community. It shouldn't
come as a shock that people who are arrested are not always happy about it
and often tell a story at odds with the truth.

Anyone who wants to see how the police are conducting themselves in the
Downtown Eastside should come to see for themselves and talk to the
residents, including the very people HRW claims are afraid of the police.
Councillor Sam Sullivan had the courage to do just that on May 8. I know
that what he heard and saw were far different from what the HRW report
described.

Researchers making observations of the street scene are only one component
of our evaluation process. The others include: ongoing analysis of crime
statistics inside and outside the Downtown Eastside by a civilian expert;
analysis of other key indicators such as overdose deaths; and spatial
analysis of crime displacement using cutting edge software.

In addition, we are participating fully with our Vancouver Agreement
partners in developing a broader framework for assessing the impact of
police enforcement, which will be turned over to an independent research
body for implementation.

What is clear now, though, is that although police enforcement alone is not
the answer, where chaos and violence generated by the open drug market once
reigned, order has been returned to the public spaces of the Downtown
Eastside, and all residents can use them more safely.

Inspector Doug LePard, City-wide Enforcement Team, Vancouver Police Department