Call to reinstate Vancouver school liaison officers gets mixed reactions

The topic of school liaison officers in Vancouver is gaining attention once again, with one mayoral candidate calling for the program to be reinstated.

According to John Coupar, who is running for mayor with the NPA, the program would help keep kids out of trouble. The NPA’s call to bring back school liaison officers comes after a series of incidents involving youths in the city were reported by Vancouver police.

“There does seem to be an increase since the program was removed. It’s hard to say if they’re directly linked but I think a long-established program turned a lot of kids into a positive direction because of the relationships they had,” Coupar said.

On May 11, the VPD issued a warning about what it described as a series of “violent incidents involving teens.” It listed a number of crimes that were said to have taken place weeks prior, describing acts of bullying as well as assaults that included “violent rituals meant to demean and humiliate peers.”

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The VPD went on to say officers were “worried the violence will further escalate,” urging parents to have conversations with their kids.

The Vancouver School Board voted last year to end the school liaison officer program, which was put under review in 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Trustees in favour of eliminating the program previously said the presence of police in schools had a negative impact on BIPOC and other marginalized students, who are more likely to see armed officers as a threat than a source of protection or support.

Despite the criticisms, Coupar believes the program served its purpose.

“Something that I think should be changed. I think it was a great program and I think it was probably an overreaction to some of the defund the police rhetoric that was happening around that time,” he told CityNews Monday, adding he feels the program did help many students during its time.

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“I’ve heard many stories of those relationships that have been positive that have made a difference, and I think that it’s something that we should go back to.”

However, Patti Bacchus, who was the longest-serving chair of the Vancouver School Board, doesn’t believe police have made enough effort to change what got the program axed in the first place.

“The fear and discomfort that was created by the presence of often-armed police officers in the school and the concerns in communities that had difficult histories, particularly Indigenous families. It’s not always about us. Often you have to really listen to the people who say they feel harmed and understand that,” she explained, adding it’s critical we create a school system that is inclusive and welcoming for all.

In the wake of the incidents reported by the VPD in recent weeks, Bacchus told CityNews she doesn’t believe returning officers to schools will change what’s happening.

“My concern is hearing from students who said they felt harmed by the program and the school district looking at changing it. And I think really the point was that the issues of systemic racism in policing haven’t been properly addressed. I think if we can tackle the systemic racism that we hear about again and again and the disproportionate impact on racialized communities and Indigenous communities, that might change,” she said.

Impact of officers in schools on students

Her comments echo what many other critics have said in the past. OneCity VSB trustee Jennifer Reddy told CityNews last year police presence in schools affects many students.

“I think that there’s definitely ongoing issues of concerns between police and racialized folks, but not only racialized folks – folks who are trans, non-binary, LGBTQ2S – and I think we have many pieces of data that speak to some of the concerns in this relationship between folks and policing,” she said prior to the VSB’s vote to scrap the program.

Before the vote was held, an independent review conducted by an outside firm found there was a general “lack of understanding” of what the liaison program was and how it served the students.

The review exposed what some trustees have described as “deeply emotional and personal” stories.

“There are clearly negative effects of having police in schools, in particular, Black and Indigenous students don’t feel safe when uniformed cops are around. We know that feelings of safety and belonging have big effects on educational outcomes. If you don’t feel safe, you can’t focus on school. It’s as simple as that,” Green Trustee Lois Chan-Pedley said.

Bacchus believes the solution to supporting students and addressing their decisions and behaviour isn’t police officers, but rather more counsellors.

She says staff are already overwhelmed, noting the need for an increase in hires.

“You know if I had the power, I’d like to see far more school counsellors who could build relationships with students and be involved — and they do that and that happens. And speaking with students that I came across in my years as a school trustee and also as a parent is that those relationships with counsellors are really important. That connection is critical … but the problem for many counsellors is they have waitlists for the time, the bit of time that they have. If they have case loads of hundreds of students, it can be difficult to give the time that they need,” Bacchus said, calling for more resources to support school counsellors as well as youth and family workers.

-With files from Mike Lloyd and Denise Wong