Sgt. Mark Tonner Column: Lives are lost waiting for the cops
Date: Feb 19, 2007 1:35 PM
PUBLICATION: The Province
DATE: 2007.02.18
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Unwind
PAGE: B9
COLUMN: Out of the Blue
ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Gerry Kahrmann, The Province / The Vancouver
PoliceDepartment is urging the city to increasing funding for more cops.
This would help reduce emergency-response times, which average 12
minutes. ;
BYLINE: Mark Tonner
SOURCE: The Province
WORD COUNT: 600

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Lives are lost waiting for the cops: VPD has the longest
emergency-response times of all major North American forces

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You can get pizza more quickly than help from the police in this town.

It’s true. Vancouver Police Department response times for priority-one
emergencies average 12 minutes. That’s the worst in any major North
American city we could find.

Try counting to 10, hiding in your bedroom while someone ransacks your
house. Try counting it 72 times over — praying you’re not discovered,
waiting a full 12 minutes for uniforms to show.

This is no dramatic example. Priority-one calls include everything from
break-ins to robberies, rapes and murders. They are cries for help from
people in real trouble.

Vancouver police went to city council not long ago, asking for more
officers. We were directed to return with a research paper to prove more
police were really needed. An exhaustive study was undertaken, with
academic help from Simon Fraser University. A 1,200-page report was
produced, concluding that we needed 129 new people.

Back to city council we went, only to have it suggested that money might
be better spent on libraries and parks. To have it asked: How is it
again, that response times are such a concern? Getting there a couple of
minutes earlier won’t make much difference, went another remark, when
all police do is mop things up anyway.

We were reminded that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promised
increased federal funding for policing. Spending extra money might be
unwise, it was said, before we know what might come from the feds.

Some memories can’t be blocked. A year or two back, the B.C. government
decided to start sharing money from traffic fines with municipalities,
to assist with policing. So far, currency arriving in Vancouver this way
has been dropped into general revenue. Police funding hasn’t been upped
as a result.

Waiting for a federal windfall is breezy thinking indeed, from the
trailing end of a letdown like that.

Response times of seven minutes are considered an industry standard –
something every police agency should aim for. The goal is a worthy one.
Getting to a scene quickly offers a better chance to solve a crime, thus
a chance to prevent the next one, rescue the next victim in advance.

This cannot be counter-intuitive. Five extra minutes while you’re being
beaten, robbed or home-invaded is an eternity. It’s true that no amount
of money will bring response times down to zero, that free-spirited
funding can’t make city life entirely safe. Yet it’s clear people in
these parts deserve better than they’re getting.

Council members are said to listen when defences are made, and they’ve
been left with an understanding of several things. VPD surveys show that
at least half of Vancouverites would be willing to spend $100 more per
year in taxes for better police service. A full three-quarters would
step up with an extra $25. The latest VPD request isn’t for the 129
officers recommended in the SFU report, but for a stopgap number of 65.

It turns out the 65 people we’re asking for would cost a mere $23 per
household. I try to envision what else a socially conscious couple might
spend that kind of money on. Not a night at the movies — at least not
for two. Especially when you factor in our new downtown parking rates.

I’m told Vancouver City Council meets to decide on this on Feb. 27. It
would be more than appropriate for readers to forward opinions to their
councillors. It matters not whether you’re for or against positions
taken in this space. People on city council need quality information to
make proper decisions.

Sgt. Mark Tonner is a Vancouver police officer whose column appears
biweekly on Sundays in Unwind. His opinions aren’t necessarily those of
the city’s police department or board.