Former federal Conservative Vancouver East constituency association president D.J. Lawrence has taken a dim view of the Sullivan administration's decision to fund the hiring of 17 new cops rather than the 65 requested by the Vancouver Police Department. In an email to friends and associations, Mr. Lawrence writes, "although they support law enforcement better than COPE and VISION, this is not the NPA I worked and voted for." But Non-Partisan Association caucus coordinator George Higgins - who has worked with Mr. Lawrence in the past - was quick to reply to those criticisms.

Wrote Mr. Higgins, "what DJ fails to point out is that the NPA campaigned on adding 50 new police officers during their mandate. They did that last year. This is 17 additional police officers, making the number 67 over 2 years. I think that more than covers their promise. But wait! DJ also failed to mention that the federal government (you know, the ones we all worked so hard to get elected last year) has promised to give more police to municipalities. Vancouver's share of that is estimated at 33. The simple math on that would be an increase of 50 new officers this year, assuming that our friends in Ottawa come through. That would double the amount the NPA campaigned on. On a side note, council approved 208 new positions within the police force over the last 3 years. How is that not supporting the police?"

But Mr. Lawrence wasn't backing down, noting Mr. Higgins is "taking credit for some of the positions approved when COPE was in power." Continued the former constituency association president, "We have had unprecedented gun crime since the NPA campaigned. We now have Funcouver, with bars open until 4 A.M. and stretching police resources even farther with longer hours and drunker more violent bar patrons...We need leadership now, not pie in the sky drug theories and best wishes for a civil society. We need a compassionate vision for those truly in need coupled with the ability to keep citizens safe. Right now, we are making life easy for the victimizers in our society, and not planning ahead for the many policing challenges facing us. We deserve better. I hope everyone will speak out on this issue." The following is a complete copy of that exchange.

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-----Original Message-----
From: Lynda-May O'brien
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 7:37 AM
Subject: Fwd: 17 instead of 65!

For those that do not know DJ, he is the past President of Vancouver Centre...see his comments below.

Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:14:55 -0800
From: "D. Lawrence"
Subject: 17 instead of 65!

Hi everyone.

If you too are shocked at the NPA decision to allow VPD to hire 17 new police officers instead of 65, join the club. Although they support law enforcement better than COPE and VISION, this is not the NPA I worked and voted for. While we have comparable members per population, we do not have comparable members per call due to the larger numbers of citizens and bad guys descending upon our city every day. There should have been at least one law enforcement supporting councillor elected last time. I hope we don't pay the price for this shortsightedness with our lives, property, or in looking foolish with an understaffed police force for 2010!

If I may make an observation, when I sent political emails out before, I got a deafening silence, except for those that didn't want to hear about it. Funny, I got the same response from my hockey friends. And then the hockey crowd got Trout Lake and Killarney closed at the same time for a large part of the season, instead of one being left open and building the replacement in an empty parking lot. 50 people would have changed that vote.

I respect the right of everyone to hate politics, politicians, and those like me who are interested in politics and may want to run at some point. However, if you think it through, we all have an issue that can be impacted by the decisions of our federal, provincial, and civic political leaders, like it or not.

Wouldn't you rather have some input, and be able to pick those that run for the party you support? I invite anyone who answers yes to this question to get in touch with me at your convenience to see how little it takes to make a difference at whatever level interests you. To those already politically active, if you think we can work together to effect change, lets talk!

Yours truly,
DJ Lawrence

Lynda-May O'Brien
President
Partners Inc.

-----Original Message-----
From: George W. Higgins
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2007 8:55 AM
Subject: RE: 17 instead of 65!

Thank you for passing this along Lynda-May. One minor correction, and a couple of comments: DJ was president of Vancouver East, not Centre.

More importantly, part of what DJ fails to point out is that the NPA campaigned on adding 50 new police officers during their mandate. They did that last year. This is 17 additional police officers, making the number 67 over 2 years. I think that more than covers their promise. But wait! DJ also failed to mention that the federal government (you know, the ones we all worked so hard to get elected last year) has promised to give more police to municipalities. Vancouver's share of that is estimated at 33. The simple math on that would be an increase of 50 new officers this year, assuming that our friends in Ottawa come through. That would double the amount the NPA campaigned on. On a side note, council approved 208 new positions within the police force over the last 3 years. How is that not supporting the police?

George

-----Original Message-----
From: D. Lawrence
Sent: 28 February 2007 23:39
Subject: RE: 17 instead of 65!

Hi George, and everyone, great to see some discussion of this issue. For everyones privacy, I've changed to BCC mode. If anyone wants to chime in, I'm sure George, Lynda-May, or I can pass it along. I greatly appreciate Lynda-May's leadership in forwarding this to people to consider, and for George in replying.

In the interests of full disclosure, George was recently hired by the mayor for political operations or a similar role, he can define it better than I. For my part, I volunteer with the VPD in a couple of capacities and had a career in law enforcement myself, although my opinions are my own and no other entities or individuals. I also consider George a friend though we haven't talked in some time.

I wanted to reply immediately, but had to get some information from home, and just got in, sorry for the delay. I appreciate George's take on this issue, because he is a reasoned and decent guy, although I have no doubt that anything I ever wanted to do to support the NPA is now sunk. And thanks for the correction George. I worked with George when I was president of the Vancouver East Conservative EDA for 5 years, campaign manager twice, v.p. and board member for a year.

Some of you may remember me as the one who set up the CA/CPC booth at the PNE for Chinese New Year and served on the Lunar New Year committee for many years as well as setting up the only National Council All BC Candidates Debate in about 2001. I was also a board member, VP, and President in Burnaby Douglas for many years in the 90's. I've done extensive work provincially as a riding President, Campaign Manager, Board Member, delegate, and supported the KnowWards and Olympics campaigns as well as small roles helping the NPA here and there. Oh, I helped Christy's campaign too, so wasn't on the Mayor's Christmas card list already.

I'm not running for anything here, just making a point, that despite the NPA ensuring some folks will never do anything other than stuff envelops for them, and the Conservatives in my riding doing less in a year with a huge board and $60,000+ in the bank than I did each month for 5 years with no money and a small but keen board and then deposing me for expecting more, I know who I support and make no bones about it. I'm a handshake agreement kind of guy and probably lousy at diplomacy but I'm not trying to be a diplomat.

George made numerous points about what the NPA campaigned on, and I don't doubt the numbers he quotes. I do know that policing and crime are constantly changing fields that require flexibility and planning. I know the NPA asked the VPD for a comprehensive report which took significant time and resources to complete. It included experts from all over, concluding (including the cities own expert) that the number of 65 new officers was correct. We have had unprecedented gun crime since the NPA campaigned. We now have Funcouver, with bars open until 4 A.M. and stretching police resources even farther with longer hours and drunker more violent bar patrons. Why did the NPA request the report if they had made their minds up already?

And as much as I support our Conservative Government, as a minority government, they can't even get the other parties to support a Counter-Terrorism bill. The buck stops at City Hall, and they are ultimately responsible for the number of police officers on the street. To assume the fed's can or will come up with the money this or any other year abrogates City Hall's responsibility for this file. To blame someone after the fact when you knew it was likely to happen is not leadership.

And 208 members over the last 3 years, George, that math says that you are now taking credit for some of the positions approved when COPE was in power, but yes, they were the City Council. There were the sudden retirements of a huge number of police officers necessitated by a tax law that would have penalized their pensions if they stayed on. This necessitated new hires which were a minimal increase in bodies and a decrease in salary costs and experienced officers.

Finally, do we have to wait for the next campaign for the NPA to plan for 2010? We will need a large increase just to deal with city policing issues from extra visitors, let alone Counter-Terrorism, traffic control, and VIP and venue Protection. This will not all be borne by the RCMP and DND. We will need trained and experienced police officers who know our city. Having worked at two Olympics (Calgary and Salt Lake City), & 3 World Ski Championships in my life I have a good sense of what is needed to secure them.

The vetting for a police applicant can take up to a year from application to hire. To get really good at policing takes years, and the basic training is 5 blocks totalling many months of field and classroom training. Assuming a Nov. 2008 win by the NPA, this means approving new numbers in early 2009, vetting and hiring the approved numbers by late 2009, and oh, woe is me, we don't have enough trained police officers in Feb. 2010! And what about the many who are putting off retirement till after the Olympics? Then we're really in for a surprise!

We need leadership now, not pie in the sky drug theories and best wishes for a civil society. We need a compassionate vision for those truly in need coupled with the ability to keep citizens safe. Right now, we are making life easy for the victimizers in our society, and not planning ahead for the many policing challenges facing us. We deserve better. I hope everyone will speak out on this issue.

Best regards,

DJ Lawrence

PS, I got this (edited) note from a Vancouver Police Officer, unnamed to protect the innocent from being persecuted by the guilty. It gives a real sense of what they face: I actually joined the NPA (not supporting them anymore) thinking that they would put policing high as a priority. Pretty sad when Vision members support double the officers than the NPA. And I can tell you from working out there that we are grossly understaffed, and in reactive mode all the time. The DTES could eat another 50 officers without even blinking, especially in light of the new funky strategies being touted ('stimulant maintenance'?). Relying on the feds is a complete cop-out (pun intended). We have limited influence over the political process, so we will do our best with what we have and keep pounding away. On a positive note, at least Surrey city council seems to get it.