Vancouver: Time to Rethink Our Priorities – Overtime, Crisis, and Accountability

 Vancouver: Time to Rethink Our Priorities – Overtime, Crisis, and Accountability

Vancouver is at a tipping point. The city spends $349 million on its police department, yet people are still dying in the streets, the housing crisis is worsening, and addiction and mental-health emergencies are left untreated. What’s happening here is more than mismanagement — it’s a human-rights crisis, and it cannot be ignored.

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⚠️ The Outrageous Overtime

In 2024, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) spent $39 million on overtime — a 50% increase from the previous year.

• 47 officers earned over $100,000 in overtime each.
• One sergeant took home $239,258 in overtime, on top of a $158,000 base salary.
• Meanwhile, housing remains unaffordable, mental-health services are underfunded, and over 18,000 people have died from fentanyl.

This is absurd and morally indefensible. Public money should be saving lives, not padding paychecks.

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☀️ On the Streets of Vancouver

The misuse of resources is visible everywhere.

• At Kitsilano Beach, four cop cars and eight officers stand in the sunshine — no crime, just coffee and small talk.
• Late at night, police line up at Siegel’s Bagels, cars idling while officers grab snacks, only to roar down Burrard Street at 4 a.m. with lights blazing.
• On English Bay, three officers patrol on quads, watching sunsets, shooing people home at 10 p.m., while the Downtown Eastside looks like a war zone.

Meanwhile, residents in crisis — seniors, youth, the unhoused — receive little to no care. The priorities are clear: protect appearances, pad paychecks, and leave people behind.

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💔 When Help Becomes Harm

It gets worse. Families fear calling for help during a crisis because wellness checks often escalate danger.

During the pandemic, one young person in Vancouver called an ambulance for their partner, who was confused, scared, and medicated with drugs that can trigger suicidal thoughts in youth. When the police arrived, they broke down the wrong door, brandished large weapons, and traumatized an already traumatized child. They made jokes, played on a trampoline, and delayed care while the ambulance arrived.

Stories like this aren’t rare — they’re part of a system where people cannot safely call for help. Families circulated warnings: do not call the police. For some, calling meant risking the life of a loved one.

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🔍 Why Local Oversight Isn’t Enough

The Cullen Commission into money laundering revealed systemic corruption in B.C. — and yet, nothing changed. No one was jailed. No one resigned. The system protected itself.

The same patterns exist with policing and public safety. Local oversight has failed. The system is too tied to politicians, unions, and internal interests to act impartially.

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🌍 Who Must Step Up

We are calling for an independent, international investigation — outside of Canada’s political and policing networks — to examine:

1. The VPD’s overtime spending and payroll practices.
2. Mismanagement of public funds meant to save lives.
3. Failures in mental-health and crisis response that have contributed to preventable deaths.
4. Structural systems that protect power, status, and budgets over human life.

Transparency International, UN Special Rapporteurs, UNODC, OECD anti-bribery monitors, and investigative journalists worldwide must step up. Vancouver’s most vulnerable deserve truth, justice, and restitution.

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⚖️ A Call for Change

We demand:

✅ Immediate international investigation into the VPD.
✅ Full public transparency of payroll and overtime data.
✅ Reallocation of funds to mental-health care, addiction treatment, housing, and social support.
✅ Restitution — returning what was lost to neglect and mismanagement.

Every dollar wasted on excessive overtime, political protection, and misused power is a dollar stolen from those who are suffering and dying.

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✊ Time for Action

Vancouver is at a tipping point. We can continue funding force, or we can start funding healing, prevention, and care.

The stories are real. The numbers are real. The suffering is real. People’s lives are on the line. It is time for truth, accountability, and justice — and for the world to watch.

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Written by Tina Winterlik (aka Zipolita) — artist, writer, and advocate for truth, compassion, and justice.

Criminal with Loaded Gun on SkyTrain — But It’s Farepayers Who Get Harassed

Criminal with Loaded Gun on SkyTrain — But It’s Farepayers Who Get Harassed

Yesterday, a man wearing a ballistic vest and carrying a loaded handgun was arrested at Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station. He had prior criminal history. He was caught by Transit Police — who usually spend their time checking fares, not catching armed criminals.

Think about that. This man shouldn’t have even been on the street. Meanwhile, countless farepayers — including youth and vulnerable populations — are stopped, fined, harassed, and sometimes detained… for missing a fare or tapping incorrectly.

Where is the real public safety?

Why are Transit Police and the entire TransLink enforcement system built around squeezing fare dollars out of the poorest people — instead of keeping loaded guns off the trains?

This story should outrage everyone who believes in real public safety, equity, and accountability.

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🔁 Reflective Questions:

1. Who benefits from the current fare enforcement system?
2. Why is it easier to criminalize a missed fare than to stop someone carrying a loaded gun?
3. What would a truly safety-focused transit system look like?
4. How could fare revenue be collected fairly without policing poor people?

Rest in Power, Matthew Hutchings 💔

 

💔 Rest in Power, Matthew Hutchings 💔

Date: May 30, 2025
By: Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

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Today, with a heavy heart, I join many in mourning the tragic death of Matthew Hutchings, a 20-year-old UBC student whose life was cut short far too soon. His body was found near the SkyTrain tracks by Commercial-Broadway Station on May 29, 2025.

This is a heartbreaking loss — one that shakes our community and leaves deep questions, grief, and anger in its wake.

Matthew mattered. He was someone’s son, someone’s friend, someone who had dreams, plans, and love to give. His disappearance gripped many with concern. And now that concern has turned into sorrow — and for many of us, rage.

I write this not just in mourning, but in frustration.
Because just two weeks ago, I saw something disturbing near the SkyTrain tracks — a man lying on his back, his friends watching helplessly or high, the scene full of pain and danger. I tried to report it to TransLink. They told me to call police. They were rude. I was shaken. And now I wonder...

Did I witness someone dying? Did I witness Matthew — or someone like him — in their last moments?

We may never know.
But I do know this: it’s not enough to say “no foul play suspected.” When someone dies from toxic drugs, that is foul play. When someone lies helpless on the ground and the system doesn’t respond, that’s a crime. When our society allows people — especially youth, especially Indigenous women, especially the vulnerable — to die silently near public transit stations, alone and ignored, that’s a failure.

Matthew deserved better.

We owe it to him — and to every soul lost in this poisoned, indifferent world — to say their names. To see them. To speak out. And to demand that compassion, support, and justice no longer be optional.

Rest in Power, Matthew.
You will not be forgotten.

💔🕊️
—Zipolita

Tasers Are Not Harmless: When Law Enforcement Crosses the Line

  Tasers Are Not Harmless: When Law Enforcement Crosses the Line

Subtitle: Exploring the psychological and physical toll of taser use and the urgent need for police accountability

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In recent years, tasers have been promoted as "non-lethal" tools for law enforcement, but their use often results in devastating consequences. From fatalities to deep psychological trauma, these devices carry risks that far outweigh the benefits when deployed unnecessarily or disproportionately.

A recent incident in Vancouver highlights this troubling pattern. A video circulated on social media showing a small, unarmed woman lying on the ground near a SkyTrain station. Towering over her were police officers, one threatening to use a taser. The scene was distressing—why was such a level of force considered necessary?

This isn't an isolated incident. Many remember the tragic death of Robert Dziekański in 2007 at YVR Airport. He died after being tasered multiple times by law enforcement, raising serious questions about the unchecked use of these devices.

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Tasers Can Kill

Tasers are often marketed as non-lethal, but they’ve been linked to hundreds of deaths. Factors such as pre-existing medical conditions, mental health crises, or prolonged shocks can lead to fatal outcomes.

For victims, the physical pain and psychological trauma can be long-lasting. Experiencing the sudden jolt of 50,000 volts while feeling helpless creates deep emotional scars, particularly when the force used seems unjustified.

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Psychological and Societal Impacts

The use of tasers doesn’t just affect the victim—it affects all of us.

Erosion of Trust: Incidents like these deepen the divide between communities and law enforcement, particularly in marginalized groups who are already disproportionately targeted.

Witness Trauma: Bystanders often feel helpless and shocked witnessing such events. The psychological ripple effects of police violence are vast.

For police officers, overreliance on tasers can become a crutch. Rather than de-escalating tense situations, they may escalate them unnecessarily by reaching for weapons first.

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Abuse of Power

Incidents like the one in Vancouver reveal a troubling trend: the unnecessary use of force against vulnerable individuals. What made a tiny, unarmed woman on the ground a threat requiring a taser? Why wasn’t de-escalation prioritized?

Without accountability, abuse of power becomes normalized. Tasers are treated as convenient tools, not weapons of last resort. This must change.

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Demanding Change

Here’s how we can work together to ensure justice and accountability:

1. Demand Transparency: Push for public reporting and independent investigations into taser use by law enforcement.

2. Support Mental Health Interventions: Advocate for more funding and resources for crisis intervention teams trained to handle non-violent situations.

3. Amplify Awareness: Share stories like these to keep the pressure on law enforcement agencies to reform.

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What Can You Do?

Record incidents safely. Videos are powerful tools for holding police accountable.

Share and engage with advocacy groups that push for policy changes.

Contact your local government officials to demand stricter regulations on taser use.

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Tasers are not harmless. They represent a broader issue of unchecked power and a lack of accountability within law enforcement. Together, we can push for a safer, more just society—one where de-escalation is the priority and lives are protected.

Let’s demand better.