Vancouver Police Board member resigns after vote to reconsider school liaison officer program cancelled
CBC News | Posted: June 16, 2023 4:05 AM | Last Updated: June 16, 2023
Advisory committee calls cancellation a waste of time
A member of the Vancouver Police Department's board has resigned after a vote on the proposed return of the school liaison officer (SLO) program was cancelled.
Rachel Roy announced she was stepping down after board vice-chair Faye Wightman said there wouldn't be a vote at Thursday's board meeting as the program had been approved.
"I'm deeply disappointed about what happened here today," Roy said.
"I cannot make a difference on this board with the way that the board in particular restricts the flow of information and access to full debate."
SLOs were axed in 2021 due to concerns about the impact that police presence in schools had on the mental and physical well-being of students, especially students of colour. The Vancouver School Board voted the program back in November.
Roy said she has yet to see empirical evidence to support the SLO program or a clear explanation as to why the program is moving forward.
WATCH | Rachel Roy resigns
The Vancouver Police Department announced the return of its SLO program will include less formal uniforms, cultural awareness training and smaller, less-exposed firearms.
Intense meeting
Members of the VPD's African-descent advisory committee walked out of Thursday's meeting, calling the cancellation of the vote "insulting."
The committee says police don't need to be in schools and that their presence can be traumatizing for some students. Committee members said there has been a lack of consultation with racialized students over the program.
Parker Johnson, a member of the advisory committee, said he felt their opposition to SLOs was not taken seriously.
"What is being done right now in our mind is a fiasco and you wasted our time asking us to come to a meeting which you've already made a decision on, so it seems like a bold-faced lie," he said.
WATCH | Committee co-chair slams vote cancellation
Roy says civilians would be a better alternative to police officers. She also has issues with guns in schools.
In response to those concerns, Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, who is a non-voting chair of the police board, said "there are guns in our schools."
Sim said he was "personally preyed" on by two gangs as a high school student in the '80s.
"For me personally, if it wasn't for the SLO program, I would've had some serious physical harm or I'd be in a gang or I'd be dead," he said.
The VPD says officers need to carry weapons to be able to react quickly to a situation, such as an active shooting.
The SLO program — which will involve 15 constables, two sergeants and one youth co-ordinator — is set for the new school year in September.