Bad Boys

"Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?" I'm sure everyone remembers the Cops theme song. I know it's been stuck in my head a lot lately, as I'm driving around Vancouver wondering how all these police have suddenly showed up out of nowhere.

I moved to Vancouver just under three years ago and one of the big differences that I noticed when I got here, was how police presence in the city was nearly non-existant. As a 21 year old girl, this was in some ways, a good thing. I could now 'forget' to wear my always uncomfortable seatbelt, my average rate of travel increased to about 70 kilometres per hour, even when weaving through city traffic and my worries of ever getting a ticket for anything had all but disappeared.

But the novelty of the lack of policing in this new place quickly vanished. Week after week, my sister and I called 'the authorities' to our East Van apartment to help the girl next door who was consistently beat up by her boyfriend as a crying baby watched. They eventually stopped coming, and on the night we moved out of that hell hole, there was blood splatter lining the hallway from this woman's door to the elevator. We'll never actually know what her fate was.

Now let's fast forward to our new place, not necessarily in a quieter community, but definitely in an area with less crime and violence. Within the next few months, we started hearing more about the Robert Dziekanski incident at YVR and the downward spiralling of gang and drug wars. All of a sudden, I felt like a lot of bad things were happening with no resolve in sight. Yet, on a few summer Saturdays, where (I'll admit) things got a little too rowdy at our house, the cops were there to disperse the crowd of party animals.

Which situations really deserve imperative attention? Why are the police always found in seemingly less urgent situations? And on the mattter of my recent observations, why have the Vancouver Police suddenly manifested themselves, well... everywhere? I'll tell you why. To look good of course! For the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.


The Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (V2010ISU) was formed in 2003 to implement security for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to be held in Vancouver in 2010. It is directed by the RCMP, combined with the Vancouver Police, the West Vancouver Police and the Department of National Defence. In addition to there being an entire unit dedicated to fighting alleged Olympic crime, there is a security budget of $175 million, set in place in 2002, that has already been exceeded. Expected to reach at least one billion, this budget should upgrade border protection, Canadian Forces and Canadian Coast Guard equipment and personnel, immigration and, you guessed it, the Integrated Security Unit which includes the VPD. With all this money and publicity on their hands, their only option is to paste themselves all over Vancouver, making them known well in advance of the world showing up on our doorstep.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's important to keep ourselves safe in an event like this. BC Solicitor General John van Dongen estimates that an additional 75,000 to 100,000 people will cross the land border from Washington state alone during the Games. In other words, there are going to be more than enough people visiting. And to accommodate these extra people in any event of a mishap, the one billion dollar security budget also covers the Integrated Public Safety Unit. It is comprised of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, BC Ambulance Services and local fire and police departments, and was established with in the Provincial Emergency Program to plan for Games-time threats and emergency preparedness.

From this perspective our money is going to good use, albeit a lot of money. So the next time you find yourself out there on the streets of Rain City cursing the boys in blue, think about why they're there, even if it's to your disadvantage!