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Public services


The impacts of police and policing

The Attorney General must take immediate action to increase access to justice for people who believe they have been the victims of excessive force, discrimination, or harassment by police by:

Recommendation 2: Dedicating legal aid funding for:

  1. a clinic to support people to make police complaints through summary advice, short service, or full representation based on the needs of the individual and the nature of the complaint
  2. public legal education workshops and materials to help people navigate the process of bringing a lawsuit against a police officer or police force; and
  3. legal representation for families and/or victims in instances of police-involved serious injury or death to facilitate full participation in a Coroner’s Inquests and civil actions.



The impacts of police and policing

The Attorney General must take immediate action to increase access to justice for people who believe they have been the victims of excessive force, discrimination, or harassment by police by:

Recommendation 3: Amending the Police Act to expand the mandate of the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) in order to:

  1. ensure that all police officers and forces operating in BC fall under the mandate of the OPCC;
  2. ensure that civilian investigators and civilian staff members are responsible for the entirety of the complaint resolution process; and
  3. allow the OPCC to audit police complaints each year, particularly where they involve discrimination based on race, gender, poverty, or health status, and publicly report on areas of concern for further investigation or reform.



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.



The impacts of police and policing

Recommendation 11: The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, in partnership with the MHMA, should issue a directive stating that no public funds may be used for private security patrols on public property, including in public parks.


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.



How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

Recommendation 20: The Ministry of Justice and/or Court Services Branch must update any Ministry of Justice databases (e.g. JUSTIN) and related practices, policies, and technology platforms, to ensure that the imposition of bail and sentencing conditions can be tracked in correlation with housing status and race, and that breaches of bail or sentencing can be properly recorded and searched based on the type of condition breached.


Service gaps and barriers & operationalizing stigma-auditing

Recommendation 23: The Province of British Columbia must amend the Human Rights Code, RSBC 1996, c 210 to prohibit discrimination and harassment based on social condition.


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.



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