Does Vancouver need a Park Police Force?

 At the last meeting of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, staff presented a report entitled “Park Ranger Service Model - Phase 1 Report Back”. This report recommended increased budget for the Park Rangers program and to ‘Create new positions with Peace Officer status to provide enhanced by-law enforcement support’. 

The Ranger program began in 2000 as the front-line ambassadors in parks and public spaces. They support a broad range of events and activities, and assist with issues such as:

• Providing visitor information and wayfinding

• Educating the public about park regulations such as the smoking, dogs on leash, and cycling                     bylaws

• Enforcing the Park Board By-laws

• Supporting permitted events and filming

• Working with Vancouver Police, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service, BC Ambulance, and other             departments and agencies on issues found in parks

• Dealing with homelessness as it impacts parks, and connecting individuals with support services

• Responding to park concerns reported through 3-1-1 and VanConnect services

• Park Rangers patrol parks and beaches throughout Vancouver. A seasonal ranger station is located         at Second Beach, next to the concession.

However, Park Rangers are not police and Park Board acknowledges that the public should call 9-1-1 if there is an emergency that requires police, fire, or ambulance.

With an increase of more than 1,153% of cases from 2015 (1,909 cases) to 2020 (22,010 cases) there is definitely a need to increase the number of Rangers. Social issue related cases such as mental health, drug addiction, and temporary structures in parks, rose by 40% in 2020, and are forecast to continue rising during 2021.

 The call for enhanced powers is because the Vancouver Police do not regularly attend to Park by-law infractions unless they are called by the Rangers, and then generally only if there is a special need for them to be there. Excessive noise, camping, feeding wildlife, or smoking in parks are not usually deemed important enough for attendance.

The recommendation to create new Peace Officer positions would see some Rangers elevated to the level of Police Constable. Police Constables are police officers. They have all of the same rights and responsibilities of a police officer. What was not known was whether that would mean they could carry handcuffs, batons, or even a fire arm, or if they would have the right of holding and arresting individuals, and using force to do so.

The Commissioners unanimously approved an increase of 1.8 million dollars to hire more Rangers, but by a 5-2 vote amended the recommendation to explore the creation of new positions with ‘enhanced bylaw enforcement authority’ as part of the regular full-time workforce, rather than to move immediately to creating Peace Officers. I was one of those who supported the amendment. 

I understand the need for our Park Rangers to be able to enforce park by-laws but I am not sure that elevating them to police constables is necessarily the right move. I want to ensure that we make the right changes, and so need to know what the options are. 

In Vancouver we already have the RCMP, the Vancouver Police Department, and the Transit Police. Do we need another police force? Could Park Rangers enforce our by-laws without being Peace Officers/Constables? Could they be trained as ‘Special Constables’ with very specific authority?

Before we move to another level of policing, I need to know what the cost of training would be. I need to know what the cost in equipment, wages, and professional development would be. I want to know what the alternatives are. Do we need to change provincial legislation or could the creation of ‘Special Park Constables’ with limited powers be done under current regulations? What do the local police feel about another layer of policing within their jurisdiction? What does the Indigenous community think? What does the BIPOC community think? What do queer, trans, and Two-Spirit folks think? What do marginalized communities think?

It would be easy to say yes let’s create a Park Police to enforce our bylaws; it would be irresponsible to do so without knowing the costs and consequences of such a decision.

Park Board approves planning of creek through Spanish Banks parking lot and dog park

 Kenneth Chan, Daily Hive

|Oct 5 2021, 1:43 pm

Planning for the daylighting of Canyon Creek at Spanish Banks Beach Park will advance, following a unanimous decision by Vancouver Park Board commissioners on Monday evening.

Canyon Creek, which is fed by a large catchment area within Pacific Spirit Regional Park, currently runs through a culvert under Northwest Marine Drive, the Spanish Banks West Parking lot, and the park’s dog off-leash area, before entering Burrard Inlet.

Based on Park Board’s staff preliminary planning work since late 2020, this project would establish a watercourse at ground level with a naturalized and vegetated area, creating a new habitat for bird, aquatic, and pollinator species. It would also serve to improve the water quality entering Burrard Inlet.

To achieve the daylighting of the creek north of Northwest Marine Drive, it is currently estimated that about 35 out of a total of 266 existing vehicle parking stalls would need to be removed.

It would also bisect the park’s off-leash dog area — the third-largest in the city with a total open area of 12.45 acres. About half an acre of this off-leash dog park area would be removed to accommodate the naturalized riparian habitat, which would need to be fenced off to prevent dogs from disturbing any wildlife.

East-west pathways at the park would also be reconfigured. Currently, both the pedestrian and cycling pathways run along the northern edge of the park. Improvements would be made by fully dedicating the existing pedestrian pathway and building a new separated pathway north of the parking lots for cyclists. Two bridges would be constructed over the daylighted creek for the pathways.

“This is a very exciting project, certainly exciting for me, who has been working on daylighting creeks for more than 20 years here in the city. Any chance we have to daylight a creek is a good day,” said Green Party commissioner Stuart Mackinnon.

“The report talks about increasing biodiversity, naturalization of the area, and connectivity of waterways. These are things that we ought to be doing more of. I know it’s very expensive to do these things within the city, but we did it in a brilliant way for Renfrew Ravine, Still Creek, and other areas.”

Green Party commissioner Dave Demers added: “It’s a very exciting project. It’s one that captures the imagination of the general public. We see that with every daylight project that is out there.”

Staff with the Park Board will now take the next steps of consulting with local First Nations and pursuing a nominal rent tenure — $1.00 for the entire term — from the provincial government, given that the proposed project area sits on untenured crown land.

The Park Board, under the City of Vancouver, has a 99-year lease from the provincial government for the area that is used as a beach park. The lease expires in January 2029, and negotiations would be required for a renewal of the lease. The proposed daylighting project would be undertaken only within the city’s lease area.

Mackinnon says he wants any land that is leased from the municipal government passed to the Park Board as a permanent park.

The Park Board anticipates it will receive the required provincial approvals by late 2022. This will trigger detailed design and public consultation in 2023, with Park Board commissioners potentially reviewing the project late that year for final approval. If the project proceeds, it would be covered under the 2023-2026 capital plan, which also necessitates approval by Vancouver City Council.

Further east in Kitsilano, the Park Board has plans to daylight the historical creek that once flowed through Tatlow Park and Volunteer Park, just east of Macdonald Street.