Vancouver Police Data

Link to Project Components

Addiction Treatment

Alcohol Consumption

BC Crime Statistics

Emergency Departments

General Population Surveys

High Risk Populations

Mortality/Morbidity

Police Drug Seizures

School Surveys

Vancouver Police Data

The Vancouver Police Department component of the BC Alcohol and Other Drug Monitoring Project aims to shed light on the number of incidents police respond to in which alcohol and other drugs are a factor. Police data can be an important indicator of the impact of substance use on communities as well as on service provision by law enforcement agencies.The AOD Monitoring Project collects and organizes multiple streams of data related to risky substance use and associated harms in BC.This project is paving the way for developing a comprehensive national system to collect and compare substance-related trends and harms across the country.

In assessing the extent to which drugs and alcohol are related to criminal activity, researchers often rely upon official data such as charge rates and convictions for substance-related offences. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that a large proportion of police incidents are due either directly (e.g. driving under the influence) or indirectly (e.g. a methamphetamine- or alcohol-fuelled assault) to the influence of substances.

The Vancouver Police Department project goals are to shed light on the types and quantities of drugs on the streets in Vancouver as well as to collect information on the number of incidents police respond to in which alcohol and/or drugs are a factor. Collecting information at the time of police incidents directly from the police themselves should allow for a better understanding of the extent to which police are routinely facing substance-related incidents in their daily duties. Given that police are currently trained using a model that presumes the individuals they deal with are rational beings, the results of this study may suggest a need for a revision in the training provided to officers.

Data collection will begin in September 2009. At the end of the first month of data collection, initial results will be provided. In addition, the research team will meet with the representatives of VPD to discuss whether any changes are necessary to either the training protocol or the data collection protocol. Data will continue to be collected until September 2010, at which point the final report will be produced.

This data will provide much needed information regarding the extent to which drugs and alcohol are commonly involved in police-related incidents. This information will provide empirical evidence upon which VPD can shape their training and response policies. With relatively few variations, this methodology should also prove to be easily replicable in other jurisdictions both within and outside of Canada.

Indicators included in the substance tracking card include basic demographic variables (gender, age, ethnicity), location of the incident, time of the incident, whether the subject has ingested substances recently and/or appears under the influence, the reason for contact with the police, the level of violence presented, the nature and extent of substances found on the person, the purpose of the substance, and the response to both the substance and the subject.