The impacts of police and policing

The Director of Police Services must develop the following Provincial Policies for all policing agencies in British Columbia:

Recommendation 4: A Provincial Policy governing police interactions with intoxicated persons, in partnership with people who use drugs and people living with alcoholism, and fund the implementation of the Policy. This Policy should make it clear that:

1. police interventions with a person who is intoxicated must be minimally impairing on liberty and officers must make the security of the person (health) the paramount consideration in determining whether to apprehend an individual;
2. city cells are not the appropriate place to bring an intoxicated person for their own safety or other therapeutic reasons. Alternatives to detention including, but not limited to, sobering centres, hospitals, and other community-based options must be made available; and
3. where an intoxicated person must be brought into cells, their health care needs shall be paramount and health care visits will be mandatory.

The impacts of police and policing

The Director of Police Services must develop the following Provincial Policies for all policing agencies in British Columbia:

Recommendation 5: A Provincial Policy on harm reduction which should include:

1. a directive to deprioritize simple possession of controlled substances and an overview of the harms of confiscating substances (including alcohol) from people with addictions and limited resources;
2. a directive to never confiscate new or used syringes, naloxone, and other harm reduction and overdose prevention supplies;
3. a statement that harm reduction supplies, whether new or used, are not a basis for search or investigation; and
4. a directive that local police forces work with service providers to develop bubble zones around safe consumption sites, overdose prevention sites, and other harm reduction sites, taking into consideration policing practices that may deter access including visible presence, arrests in close proximity, undercover operations in and near, and surveillance of people using the service.

The impacts of police and policing

The Director of Police Services must develop the following Provincial Policies for all policing agencies in British Columbia:

Recommendation 6: A Provincial Policy on police attendance at overdoses which includes:

1. a directive not to attend at drug overdose calls, except where requested by Emergency Health Services—usually in the event of a fatality or threats to public safety; and
2. a clear statement that the role of law enforcement at the scene of a drug overdose is to deliver first aid if they are the only responders available, or to protect the safety of Emergency Health Services and members of the public, not to investigate the individuals or circumstances at the scene unless police determine that there is an urgent public safety concern, for example, if violence is occurring at the scene.

How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

Recommendation 12: The Government of Canada must amend the Criminal Code to prevent the use and prosecution of discriminatory or destructive behavioural conditions of interim release and sentencing, specifically:

• legislate that conditions imposed on interim release be reasonable and proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the alleged offence and the circumstances of the accused;
• define “drug paraphernalia” as harm reduction medical equipment and prohibit the imposition of conditions that would interfere with the ability to access or possess harm reduction equipment;
• prior to imposing an abstinence condition, require that courts consider a person’s dependence on drugs or alcohol. Abstinence conditions shall not be imposed on people living with addictions, except where doing so is necessary to protect the safety of a victim, witness, or the public, and harm-reduction measures shall be preferred over abstinence;
• limit “red zone” conditions to situations where there is a substantial likelihood that, if released without a red zone, the accused will commit an offence involving violence or serious harm within the red zone and ensure that any red zone is tailored to the alleged offence, the principles of judicial interim release or probation, and circumstances of the individual;
• remove paragraph 504(2.1) (g), the power for police to impose “abstinence” conditions; and
• eliminate criminal sanctions for non-violent breaches of behavioural conditions.

How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

The Governments of BC and Canada must amend their prosecutorial policy, specifically:

Recommendation 13: Amend the BC Crown Counsel Policy Manual to include a policy on “Conditions of Release” that:

1. aligns with the Criminal Code requirement that an accused be released unconditionally unless their detention or the imposition of conditions is justified;
2. reflects Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence requiring that conditions of release be minimally onerous and that every imposition of more restrictive conditions must be individually justified; and
3. takes into consideration the potential harms of imposing certain conditions on some individuals based on their social condition, race, ability status, housing status, and substance use.

How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

The Governments of BC and Canada must amend their prosecutorial policy, specifically:

Recommendation 15: Amend the Public Prosecution Service of Canada Deskbook Part 3.18 sections 2 and 5 to:

1. more clearly reflect the Criminal Code requirement that an accused be released unconditionally unless their detention or the imposition of conditions is justified; and
2. take into consideration the potential harms of imposing certain conditions on certain individuals based on their social condition, race, ability status, housing status, and substance use. ii. take into consideration the potential harms of imposing certain conditions on certain individuals based on their social condition, race, ability status, housing status, and substance use.

How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

The Provincial Court of British Columbia should:

Recommendation 17: Amend the Provincial Court of British Columbia, “Bail Orders Picklist”, May 1, 2017 and Provincial Court of British Columbia, “Probation Orders Picklist” May 1, 2017 to:

1. remove “Drug Paraphernalia” conditions;
2. restrict the use of “No Alcohol or Drugs” conditions in relation to people with addictions;
3. remove “banishment” conditions entirely;
4. ensure that all “red zone” conditions are imposed only where doing so is required to protect the safety of a victim, witness, or the public from violence or serious harm. In doing so, red zones must be tailored to the alleged offence and the circumstances of the individual. Under no circumstances are standardized red zones appropriate; and
5. prohibit the imposition of behavioural or geographic conditions that would interfere with the ability to access health or social services, including harm reduction health services.

How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

The Provincial Court of British Columbia should:

Recommendation 18: Create a Provincial Court resource outlining “harm reduction services,” including a definition of:

1. “drug paraphernalia” as harm reduction equipment;
2. “Safe Consumption Sites” and “Overdose Prevention Sites”;
3. needle exchange;
4. opioid substitution treatment; and v. low-barrier health services.

How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

Recommendation 19: Police Services must create a provincial practice direction for police officers upon release of an accused, adopting the following recommendations of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association:

• police should make increased use of their power to release and ensure that any conditions imposed are constitutional and legally permissible under the Criminal Code.
• individuals released from police custody should be proactively informed of the procedures that can be used to vary police-imposed conditions under the Criminal Code; and
• police should release individuals under the most minimally restricting conditions available in the circumstance, taking into consideration an individual’s need to access shelter, social services, health care, and community, as well as the possible disability status of the individual, including addiction.

Service gaps and barriers

Recommendation 24: The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions and the Ministry of Health must improve the ability of BC hospitals to meet the needs of people living with the effects of substance use, mental illness, and/or homelessness by:

• auditing experiences in hospitals, beginning with an analysis of people’s experiences where they have been turned away from emergency rooms or discharged and where there have been negative health consequences;
• working with people with lived experience to audit provincial standards for effectively managing substance withdrawal in hospital settings;
• ensuring that all hospitals offer supervised consumption services to patients; and
• working with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to create transitional housing options to ensuring that sick and injured people are not released from the hospital to the streets or to emergency shelter.