Vancouver high school scares renew push to reimplement liaison officers

Should the school liaison officer program be brought back in Vancouver?

That’s the question being mulled by some after the Vancouver Police Department rushed to Killarney Secondary in East Vancouver twice in two days over reports of violent incidents.

The school liaison program was removed following a 2020 review which found several students, including Black students, expressed fear and discomfort by uniformed officers on school grounds. The push came following the high profile death of George Floyd in the U.S. and the Black Lives Matter movement, which led to many to confront systemic racism in policing.

But the recent incidents in Vancouver seem to have stirred up the conversation again.

A few students at Killarney suffered minor injuries following a pepper spray attack on Wednesday. The school had to be evacuated and police say the investigation continues, with suspects reportedly identified.

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On Thursday, another heavy police respond descended on the school over reports of a person with a weapon. While no one was found inside the school and there were no reports of any injuries, many parents and students reported that having the school in lockdown was incredibly traumatizing.

“We want our school to be safe for the kids to study,” one parent told OMNI News, adding, “[Schools] should be more [tough], like rules and stuff in school, more tougher security. They should have maybe hard couple of security people.”

Another parent was visibly angry as his kids were inside the school, and he was anxiously waiting outside.

“Who is going to help them? It isn’t right,” he said.

Vancouver Police Sgt. Steve Addison says the situation was very dynamic and officers responded believing it was credible report. However, he says once officers were able to get more details, they didn’t believe there was an imminent threat.

He says they are trying to determine if the two incidents are linked, and that a police presence would be at the school on Friday out of caution.

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When asked about the school liaison program, Addison did not say if an officer within the school would have made a difference.

“We no longer have school liaison officers in school. That was a decision that was made by not by the Vancouver Police Department but that was a decision that was made by the school board at the end of the last school year. We continue to work proactively in the community to provide guidance and mentorship for youth,” Addison said.

“There’s no doubt that having school liaison officers in our mind in the schools was a valuable service to school administrators and school students. We would have loved to have continued to program,” he added.

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Doug Spencer, retired VPD gang detective, now with Odd Squad Productions, said he was shocked learning the school board was thinking about getting rid of the liaison program.

“(With) COVID, kids are so in need of assistance right now, to take a program like that away, it was an absolute mind blow to me,” Spencer said.

Spencer said liaison officers are there as a support system for both the students and staff.

“They’re there for the kids. They’re there quite often for the principal to deal with situations that are out of his realm or her realm.”

Vancouver was not alone in removing the program. New Westminster also voted to remove officers from schools. Meanwhile, Surrey still has its Safe Schools program, but RCMP officers are not stationed at any schools.

“The only people we have stationed in every secondary school are Safe School Staff, and they’re more aligned along the skillset of a youth care worker,” Rob Rai, the Director of School and Community Connections, Surrey School District said in 2021.

Recent swarming incidents involving Metro Vancouver youth have also brought the issue back to the forefront, as is the political push ahead of the municipal elections in October.

With files from OMNI News, Hana Mae Nassar, Tarnjit Parmar, Michael Williams and Lisa Steacy