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 8: A Provincial Policy detailing people’s right to privacy in tents and informal living structures akin to the right to privacy in private residences.

Operationalizing stigma-auditing

Recommendation 34: In its first year in operation, the BC Human Rights Commission should prioritize stigma-auditing areas of law and policy that most directly impact highly stigmatized populations, including, but not limited to:

• public space governance;
income assistance and disability policy;
• housing policy and residential tenancy law;
• child welfare law and policy;
• policing law and policy;
• health policy related to mental health and substance use; and
• privacy law as it relates to people who live in public space and people who are criminalized as a result of substance use.