By David P. Ball
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Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has warned of public safety consequences of city council refusing their requests to boost budget by millions.
The VPD has warned of public safety consequences of city council refusing their requests to boost budget by millions. Instead, last week councillors froze police spending at last year's levels.
On Sunday, a group of community organizers in Vancouver hosted a virtual teach-in event to strategize their next steps for the local "defund the police" movement.
"All across Turtle Island, Black, Indigenous and communities of colour are all dreaming of abolishing the police," said the online event's host, Vancouver musician Tonya Aganaba. "I know I'm dreaming of abolishing the police every single night.
"We're dreaming of building powerful structures, organizations and resistance strategies to build a society where all communities and members can grow and thrive … We are excited to be a part of a conversation about what we can build here in Vancouver," Aganaba added.
The budget decision went against the city staff's own recommendation to cut the police budget along with most other areas of the city budget, in the midst of the pandemic's debilitating economic shortfall. But the Vancouver Police Board said despite keeping funding the same, costs had risen meaning they would be short funding for over 60 officers next year.
"The Vancouver Police Board has serious concerns regarding the decision," Board Chair Barj Dhahan said on Dec. 9, "… and actually results in a $5.7 million shortfall.
"A shortfall of this magnitude is extremely challenging, in particular during a global pandemic, where the police department is facing unprecedented stress in ensuring public safety in Vancouver," Dhahan added.
Speakers at the "defund the police" online event included Indigenous land defenders who spoke about police enforcement of injunctions against them, and the history of police abuse of Indigenous people's rights in B.C. and across Canada.
"Anyone living in the cities, or in the rural areas, we're harassed — our safety is violated," said Mayek Manuel, with Tiny House Warriors in the B.C. Interior, which is doing "direct action" to block the Trans Mountain pipeline. "Some of the things that's going to engage the police is the direct action we participate in. It does get really scary because we feel at any time we could be shot … Both RCMP and vigilantes could come shoot us dead."
Desmond Cole also spoke. He's an activist and author of "The Skin We're In" and encouraged Vancouver organizers to continue pushing city council on the issue.
"What I'm seeing that what's effective and urgent is the local stuff, because the police are funded by your municipality," Cole said. "Even if the municipality tells you, 'Well we get that money from the province or we get it from the feds,' they're the ones passing the budget, they're the ones controlling the dollars … They have a lot more power than they want you to believe."
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On the show today we also talk with journalist and academic Gordon Katic. The executive producer of Cited Podcast talks about his new show Darts & Letters, from public intellectuals to populism, Big Pharma's opioid decisions & social change ideas.