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Part One: Introduction

Part Three: Living
in Vancouver

Part Four: City
Government and
Public Participation

Police and Community Safety Programs

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) officers are professionally trained to keep the peace and serve the public. The Vancouver Police help the people of Vancouver in many different ways. Police officers enforce laws, arrest people who break the law and help people solve problems. Vancouver police officers come from many different cultures and backgrounds, just like the people who live in the city. The Vancouver Police Department regularly hires and trains new officers who know the languages and cultures of Vancouver’s people.

The Vancouver Police Board governs the VPD, following rules made by the Province of BC. The Province of BC appoints the Vancouver Police Board, and the people on the Board come from diverse backgrounds. The Mayor of Vancouver is Chair of the Board. The Board appoints the Chief of Police. The Chief is responsible for operational matters and must follow the Board's policy direction.

One of the key functions of the Vancouver Police is to respond to 9-1-1 emergency calls. Please see under “Emergency Services”. If you need to talk to the police about non-emergency matters, call 604-717-3321.

Victim Services

Vancouver Police has a Victim Services Unit that provides assistance 24 hours a day to victims of crime or other traumatic incidents. Volunteers will come and provide emotional support, bereavement assistance, transport the victim to emergency accommodation, and find agencies that can help.

Victim Services has many volunteers who give their time to help crime victims and can always use more volunteers, especially those who know other languages and cultures. If you want to help people and get good experience, call Victim Services (Tel: 604-717-2737).

Neighbourhood Safety Programs

You can help stop crime — and keep your family safer — by working together with your neighbours to watch over the neighbourhood. The Vancouver Police and other groups can help neighbours come together for neighbourhood safety. For example, many neighbourhoods in Vancouver have a Community Policing Centre, which is a place where neighbourhood police officers and local volunteers run safety programs. The following section explains more about various neighbourhood safety programs and services.

Community Policing Centres

Community Policing Centres are small street-front offices. They are different in each neighbourhood. Each office is set up to meet the needs of its neighbourhood. Many Community Policing Centres were started because the people of a neighbourhood wanted one. To find out more, call local Community Policing Centres below or check out the VPD website under ‘Community Policing’: www.vancouver.ca/police.

• Cedar Cottage — 604-717-2938
• Chinatown — 604-688-5030
• Collingwood — 604-717-2935
• Davie Street — 604-717-2924
• Downtown Eastside — 604-687-1772
• Dunbar Southlands — 604-717-3446
• Gastown — 604-717-2929
• Grandview-Woodland — 604-717-2931
• Granville Downtown South — 604-717-2920
• Granville Island / Kitsilano — 604-717-2944
• Hastings North — 604-717-2933
• Kerrisdale Oakridge Marpole — 604-717-3434
• Little Mountain/Riley Park/South Cambie — 604-717-2942
• Mount Pleasant — 604-717-2936
• Musqueam — 604-263-3261
• Native Liaison — 604-687-8411
• South Vancouver — 604-717-2940
• Strathcona — 604-717-2927
• Waterfront — 604-717-2916
• West End — 604-717-2918
• Yaletown Community Policing Centre — 604-899-6250

Safety Programs and Services

There are many different programs and services in Vancouver that can help people to make their neighbourhoods safer:

• The Block Watch program organizes neighbours to keep watch over each other’s homes and property because a watchful neighbour is your best burglar alarm. In Block Watch, people in a block or in an apartment building or condominium get together to become acquainted with each other and to make a list of who lives in which home. They agree to keep an eye on each other’s homes. When people in a Block Watch program see something happening that looks suspicious, they call 9-1-1 right away. To find out how to organize a Block Watch program, call 604-665-5064 or 604-717-2857.
  
  
• The Block Parent program enables parents from one family to take care of children from another family if they are in trouble. It is also a way for any other person in a neighbourhood to get to safety if they have a problem. After passing a security check from the Police Department, participants put a sign in their window announcing they are Block Parents and that their home is a safe place to go. A Block Parent will take a child into their home, and call a child’s parents. To become a block parent, call the local school in your area.
  
  
• Citizen’s Crime Watch gives volunteers training so that they can help the police patrol neighbourhoods. Volunteers in their own cars work with a Vancouver Police Officer and if they see something suspicious, they radio the officer who then investigates. Volunteers do not try to stop crimes or fix problems. For information, call 604-717-2909.
  
  
• School Liaison Officer: Each of Vancouver’s 18 high schools, and many of the elementary schools have a VPD officer who is assigned as a School Liaison officer. These officers work with staff, students and parents on safety and crime prevention issues.

Home Alarm System

Many houses and apartments have burglar alarms. If you have a burglar alarm, make sure that it is working well. Let your neighbours know what your alarm sounds like, and ask them to call the Police for you if your alarm is not monitored by an alarm company. All home burglar alarms must be registered and have a permit issued by the Vancouver Police Department. Call False Alarm Reduction Program (Tel: 604-871-6150) for more information or check their website at:www.vancouver.ca/police/falsealarm

Tips on home and neighbourhood security:

• Put good deadbolt locks on doors.
• Have good window locks.
• Keep a few lights and a radio on while you are away.
• Don’t leave unlocked bicycles outside.
• Keep your garage door closed.
• Don’t leave notes telling people you are away.
• Don’t hide house keys outside.
• Have a light outside your door and make sure people can see your door from the street.
• Know your neighbours, and let them know when you will be away.
• Write down information about important things you own, take pictures or a video of them and keep that in a safe place away from home, or let a friend keep them for you.
• Don’t let people you do not know into your house or apartment.
• Don’t let strangers follow you through your apartment building door.
• Don’t stay alone in apartment garages or laundry rooms.
• When you go away, ask a friend or neighbour to pick up your mail or newspapers and watch over your house.
• If you have bars on your windows, it is very important that the bars can open easily from the inside, in case your family needs to get out in a fire or some other emergency.

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Comments or questions? Send us e-mail at baldwin.wong@vancouver.ca.

© 2002, City of Vancouver, Community Services, Social Planning
Last Modified: Friday, February 4, 2005