Are stories of Vanouver Police officers running intimidation tactics on the homeless true? Hard to tell to what extent, if at all.
But details emerging from the mouths of tent dwellers about being pressured to leave the area don’t seem to be coming out of thin air (the part about being pushed up against vans and told to pick up their s–t and get out of town? Well that’s a different story).
I found this piece of the above-linked article very telling however:
“But, last week, city manager Penny Ballem said homeless people sleeping under the Georgia Viaduct will be evicted on Feb. 5 next year, or face arrest.
Security officials have warned of arrests if homeless people don’t vacate the area around B.C. Place, GM Place and the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts.
The Province inspected the Georgia viaduct area Tuesday, where only a single bed and a parked police vehicle were apparent.”
Even though there can be little doubt that this move comes directly as a result of the extreme security measures that will sweep over the zones containing official Olympic venues, it does open up the possibility that the VPD is getting the jump a little early, and not limiting their sense of duty to these specific areas.
Do I think that there is any official policy coming out of City Hall regarding this sweep? Absolutely not.
But I do believe that the VPD sees the Downtown Eastisde, for example, as a direct threat to their reputation.
If over 1,000 people will have temporary shelter for the coming winter as stated by Councillor Kerry Jang, these kinds of sweeps should be directed towards getting the shelters to maximum capacity.
Secondly, maybe as the Metro articile references, there is a way to involve homeless people in the festivities more than hiding them away from public view.
Like I have stated in an early CivicScene posting:
“I believe that a mature city does all it can to put its best foot forward and makes genuine efforts to fix the ills that beset it, but the one thing it does not do is hide from its problems.”
