Pubdate: Thu, 23 Aug 2012
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Mike Hager
Cited: Report of Independent Counsel to the Commissioner of the 
Missing Women Commission of Inquiry http://mapinc.org/url/Y7Z0AjqK

REPORT TARGETS POLICE ATTITUDES

Social, Legal, Judicial Framework Allowed for Murders, Author Says

Giving the children of Vancouver's missing women financial 
compensation and decriminalizing sex work, heroin and cocaine are 
just some of 37 recommendations set out by a new missing women 
inquiry report from various Downtown Eastside groups.

The Independent Counsel recommendations detail a comprehensive list 
aimed at stopping another serial killer from preying on marginalized 
sex workers, but most were aimed at police and Crown reform.

"At the core of the difficulty is a set of police attitudes that are 
influenced by the unlawful status of sex work and drug use," said the 
report's author, lawyer Jason Gratl. "The police require some tools, 
at a policy level, to overcome the legislative requirement to treat 
our most unfortunate citizens as criminals and provide them with the 
protection from truly dangerous predators that they need."

Gratl said the report, "Wouldn't Piss On Them If They Were on Fire": 
How Discrimination Against Sex Workers, Drug Users and Aboriginal 
Women Enabled a Serial Killer, offers a scathing critique of the 
social, legal and judicial framework he says allowed Robert Pickton 
to kill multiple women from the DTES. The report is non-binding, and 
its stated mission is to "persuade [ Commissioner Wally Oppal] to 
incorporate the perspectives and interests of the Downtown Eastside 
into his more comprehensive Inquiry Report."

One of the strongest recommendations calls for training of senior 
police officials and an audit of both B. C. RCMP and Vancouver police 
attitudes toward DTES residents.

"It would appear, based on the evidence given by many of the police 
officers, that even today the VPD and RCMP have a blind spot for 
their own discriminatory attitudes and beliefs," Gratl said. "An 
outside independent audit of police practices and procedures 
scrutinizing for discriminatory conduct and policies is absolutely 
necessary to overcome this blind spot.

"The evidence revealed that sex workers and drug users are afraid to 
approach police because they fear persecution and arrest, even if 
they're victims of serious physical or sexual crimes."

When investigating the missing women, police rarely interviewed 
victims' friends or family because of their discriminatory belief the 
sex workers didn't have friends or neighbours, Gratl said.

Civilians should also be included in high levels of police management 
to break apart the "insular operational decision making" that 
reinforces police interests, the report said.

It went on to say police should grant vulnerable DTES residents 
immunity from outstanding warrants in order to coax them to report 
crimes of physical or sexual violence.

Other recommendations include increasing the supply of social housing 
and detoxication centres, as the report argues poor availability of 
drug treatment is linked to increased levels of violence against sex workers.

The Independent Counsel was appointed by Oppal on Aug. 15, 2011, 
after then attorney-general Barry Penner refused the Inquiry 
Commissioner's recommendation to fund lawyers to represent four 
groups from the DTES, including sex workers, drug users and aboriginals.

Oppal will take this report into consideration along with submissions 
from a variety of individuals and groups before tabling his final 
report by Oct. 31 of this year.

The full Independent Counsel report can be found online at vancouversun. com .
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom