The majority of the problems I hear about on McGillivray Boulevard revolve around frequent moving traffic violations. Reckless drivers who fail to stop at stop signs, violate crosswalks, speed and violate the bike lanes are a problem all over the city of Vancouver. One big reason is a lack of law enforcement.
The Vancouver Police Department traffic unit has four officers assigned. They are lucky to be able to respond to accidents, and lack the manpower to perform large-scale traffic enforcement.
In reply to my inquiry, a financial supervisor at VPD informed me that the first-year cost to put one police officer on the street, fully outfitted with a vehicle, body armor, sidearm, body camera, and everything the officer would need, was about $516,000.
By comparison, on Dec. 18, city council members, voting as directors of the Transportation Benefit District, approved over $11 million in spending, much of it for planning on several more projects like McGillivray and 34th Street. Repurposing some of that money toward rebuilding the police department sounds like a solid bargain to me.
One of the city’s goals is to “improve on what we have.” Let’s start with regular law enforcement.
