Policing, Politics, and the Human Cost 💔🥺

 Vancouver Missed the Mark: Policing, Politics, and the Human Cost 💔🥺

Are Transit cops really “cops”? Technically, yes. They are fully sworn officers with the power to arrest, issue tickets, and enforce the law. But how the hell did we get here? How did society come to expect people with six to twelve months of training to handle the complex realities of Vancouver’s streets?

Transit cops, VPD officers, and even RCMP are expected to manage mental health crises, addiction, homelessness, domestic disputes, and child and elder care. Meanwhile, professions historically dominated by women — teaching, nursing, social work, caregiving, cooking — require years of training. Teachers study for four to five years. Nurses and social workers train for two to four. Doctors spend seven or more years learning. Chefs and caregivers train for two years or more.

The irony is striking. Male-dominated “tough” roles get short training, while traditionally female, “nurturing” roles require far more preparation and experience — yet both involve human lives and safety. And the stakes are identical.

Vancouver’s political leadership has only made matters worse. Mayor Ken Sim promised 100 new nurses and doctors, but the promise has yet to materialize. Meanwhile, billions of dollars are being poured into policing, and police forces brag about drug busts like trophies. Seniors are sleeping in shelters, people are overdosing in alleyways, and Indigenous and marginalized communities face systemic abuse and neglect.

Distractions abound. The mayor and city leaders focus on Parks Board drama, FIFA excitement, and photo ops while the real crisis rages behind the scenes. It’s a classic Trump-style tactic: draw attention to minor spectacles to avoid scrutiny of systemic failures. The human cost continues to rise while the public looks elsewhere.

Consider the facts: over 18,000 people have died in the ongoing crisis. More than 5,000 are unhoused or homeless. Seniors are flooding shelters in numbers the city has never seen. Indigenous and marginalized communities continue to experience abuse, harassment, and neglect at the hands of security, police, and institutions meant to protect them.

Meanwhile, people steal bus rides to survive — desperate acts criminalized by the system. Survival is punished. Stealing a bus ride is like stealing bread to survive; it’s not lawbreaking for sport, it’s an act of desperation.

The danger of undertrained officers is clear when you consider simple analogies: if a chef trains for two years to safely cook meals, how can someone trained for six months handle a human crisis without “burning” someone emotionally or physically? Would you get on a plane flown by someone who trained for six months, expected to handle storms, medical emergencies, and panicking passengers? Would you trust a person with six months of training to teach, counsel, and discipline children, including those who have experienced trauma?

And yet, we give these same officers power over people historically oppressed, like Indigenous communities, without giving them the empathy, social work, or history training necessary to do their jobs safely. A firefighter spends almost a year learning to save lives; a cop spends half that time and is expected to do both rescue and judgment. We hand someone a wrench, a baton, or the keys to authority and tell them to “fix everyone’s lives” — and then we wonder why human lives are damaged.

The reality is that Vancouver has missed the mark. Human suffering is ignored while authority, money, and political theater flourish. Seniors, the unhoused, and Indigenous communities are paying the ultimate price. The city prioritizes policing budgets and photo ops over healthcare, housing, and social support. The political distractions — Parks Board debates, FIFA excitement — are a smoke screen while thousands of lives hang in the balance.

Vancouver needs real investment in healthcare and social services, not just policing. Police and security forces need training that includes empathy, social work, and crisis intervention. Politicians must be held accountable when they prioritize appearances over human lives.

Until that happens, Vancouver will remain a city where human lives are collateral damage — and we are all paying the price.