Pubdate: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Vancouver Courier Contact: http://www.vancourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474 Author: Mark Hasiuk Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites) STREET SMART COP GETS THE BOOT Dave Dickson is leaving. That name might mean nothing to you, but it's widely known in the Downtown Eastside. Dickson spent more than 20 years walking the DTES beat as a member of the Vancouver Police Department. Now retired, Dickson works as the sex trade liaison for the VPD. The liaison position was created two years ago--for Dickson--to help bridge the gap between law enforcement and the street. Almost every day, the 57-year-old Dickson travels from his Surrey home to the syringe-speckled streets and alleys of the DTES. He doesn't have an office or a budget. He relies on street smarts, honed during his days on the force. He's on a first-name basis with prostitutes, drug addicts, street people and government and non-government workers in the area. His relationship with prostitutes is unprecedented. He's the only man allowed inside the WISH women's shelter. His contacts on the street, combined with his access to police computers, help him locate missing persons for organizations such as Strathcona Mental Health. While he's officially a VPD liaison, Dickson is much more. He's a protector, investigator and helping hand for a troubled population rife with addiction and disease. He's respected, even feared, by neighbourhood predators. He exudes common sense and compassion, and he's exactly what the neighbourhood needs. Dickson should be instructing rookie VPD officers on DTES procedure. He should be cloned and stationed on every street corner. But instead, he's leaving. His contract ends Aug. 15 and the VPD, which pays his salary, told Dickson he's not wanted anymore. An active police officer will take his place. Dickson wasn't given a clear explanation for his dismissal. And he won't speculate. It's hard to figure, but theories abound. Aside from being a topflight street cop, Dickson is an outspoken critic of Vancouver's so-called "harm reduction" policies, which include the Insite safe injection site on East Hastings Street and the DTES's small village of methadone clinics. Dickson believes harm reduction is the most destructive government policy instituted in the DTES during his 28 years of service. "The harm reduction thing is so out of control," he says. "That whole philosophy has been abused horribly." Treat addiction like a disease, he says. Don't feed the disease without supplying a mandatory avenue for treatment. Change the culture--don't perpetuate it. Criticizing harm reduction can be dangerous. Prominent citizens with big-time titles next to their names have bet their reputations on this largely untested strategy. Acknowledging a failed policy is one thing. But a failed policy which promotes destructive behaviour in Canada's most troubled neighbourhood is another thing entirely. Nobody wants that blood on their hands. And so public indictments of harm reduction must be delayed long enough for memories to fade, so policy architects can slip quietly out the back door. Dissenting voices must be silenced. Like his predecessor Larry Campbell, NPA Mayor Sam Sullivan made harm reduction a key tenet of his policy platform. In June, VPD Chief Jim Chu muzzled VPD Insp. John McKay after McKay publicly criticized Insite. Last year, harm reduction proponents in B.C.'s medical community--led by UBC's Dr. John Hepburn--wrote a scolding letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper after the Conservatives dared question Insite's effectiveness in combating addiction. While Dickson's dismissal may be unrelated to his views on harm reduction, it's still a mistake, added to the growing list of offences which helped create the current quagmire in the DTES. History will record today's harm reduction champions as some our city's greatest bunglers. Dave Dickson will be a footnote, recognized only by people he met on the street. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin