Thread by @DanaLarsen

As April 20 approaches, questions about "high costs" of 4/20 are coming up again. I have been looking into issue of @VancouverPD policing costs for public events in @CityofVancouver, and I've discovered there's a much bigger story here which needs to be discussed. 1/X #vanpoli

Soaring @VancouverPD bills have been forcing @CityofVancouver's public events into bankruptcy for years. For instance, St Patrick's Day Parade was forced to cancel in 2016 & '17 because they couldn't afford city's high bills, mainly for policing. 2/X news1130.com/2017/12/07/van…

Another example is Vancouver's Santa Claus Parade, which almost shut down in 2017 because they couldn't afford soaring costs of policing. They were saved at the last minute by a big corporate sponsor. 3/X
cbc.ca/news/canada/br…

A third example is how Vancouver's public New Year's Eve parties at the Art Gallery and elsewhere got shut down by what Councillor @george_affleck calls "astronomical" and "out of control" policing costs. 4/X
dailyhive.com/vancouver/12-q…

Vancouver's wonderful Parade of Lost Souls and the Illuminares Lantern Festival, both popular local grassroots community events in East Van, both finally forced to shut down due to soaring bills from @CityofVancouver and @VancouverPD. 5/X #vanpoli
straight.com/arts/illuminar…

Even Vancouver's beloved Pride Parade @vancouverpride was almost driven to bankruptcy by soaring police costs. They get a $50,000 subsidy from the City, but in 2016 their @VancouverPD bill jumped by over $75,000, to $125,000, with no warning. 6/X
dailyxtra.com/vancouver-prid…

The City had to give the Pride Society an extra $75,000 last year, on top of their usual $50,000 subsidy, just to cover the unexpected increase in policing costs which otherwise could have bankrupted the whole Parade. 7/X

Our 4/20 protest has also seen a big jump in police costs. The @VancouverPD says they spent $170,670 on policing 4/20 2017, up from $99,400 policing in 2016. Why the 171% increase? We have no idea! 8/X #vanpoli

Oddly, the costs of 4/20 make headlines for months before and after our event. But Vancouver's recent $75,000 bonus payout to Pride got covered in only one article, in Xtra, and also mentioned at end of one Global piece. Costs of other protests & events gets minimal coverage. 9/X

The @VancouverPD and @CityofVancouver also have a strange attitude about revealing policing costs for public events. Costs for 4/20 are released soon after the protest is over. For some other events, the VPD doesn't like to reveal policing costs at all. 10/x #vanpoli

Here's a clipping from 2013, where the @VancouverPD say they will not reveal the costs of policing over the Pride weekend. Umm why not? What's the secret? 11/X cbc.ca/news/canada/br… #vanpoli

A Freedom of Information request made to @VancouverPD on policing costs of 2015 Pride Parade received the reply that Pride policing cost was $0, because it was paid by unnamed "external third parties." What a strange, elusive response to a FOI. 12/X
vancouver.ca/police/assets/…

As far as I know, that "external third party" is the Pride Parade itself, using grant money from @cityofVancouver. It seems odd that @VancouverPD wouldn't just provide the actual policing cost figure, especially to a direct FOI request. 13/X #vanpoli

I recently asked @VancouverPD media liaison about policing costs of last year's Italian Day on Commercial Drive. He said he'd get back to me shortly. Then a week later, he says "I have been advised that we are unable to share this information with you." 14/X

I have now filed a Freedom of Information request to get the Italian Day policing costs, along with costs of some other public events. But why does @VancouverPD make some event policing costs public while others are kept secret? 15/X

Instead of crushing local community events with soaring @VancouverPD costs, how about we treat policing like an essential civic service, which it is, and provide it to everyone in @CityofVancouver equally and without charge. 16/X #vanpoli

Right now, policing costs for highly profitable hockey games & concerts are covered by the general police budget, but non-profit, grassroots community events like Pride or the Lantern Festival get a big bill from @VancouverPD. How does that make sense? 17/X #vanpoli

It wasn't the @Canucks or @NHL which paid $200,000 nightly cost of outdoor Stanley Cup viewing sites in 2011, nor did they cover the millions more spent cleaning up the drunken hockey riot. Canucks & NHL are very profitable, but city picks up policing costs for every game. 18/X

Big concerts also require extra policing, but they don't get a bill from @VancouverPD. Axl Rose didn't pay for GNR riot in 2002, neither did GM Place. Concerts and hockey games don't pay for their own policing, event when they lead to a riot! 19/X

There's an annual $1.1 million in extra policing costs for the Granville strip, which is full of profitable bars. This cost is covered by the general @VancouverPD budget. Those bars don't pay for the extra policing their customers require. 20/X cbc.ca/news/canada/br…

Note that $1.1 million is just the extra weekend policing for the Granville Strip. The standard daily policing costs for that area are probably a few million more each year. All covered by taxpayers, not bar owners, not the drunken revellers. 21/X #vanpoli

Also, Vancouver regularly throws millions of dollars at expensive, elite sporting events which don't seem to be as popular as grassroots community events like Pride, 4/20, the Lantern Festival or the St Patrick's Day Parade. 22/X

Remember when @CityofVancouver spent $1.2 million on 5000 person free all-ages beer tent to watch soccer? Did you or anyone you know go to that? That kind of money would have covered all civic costs of all those community events for 3-4 years! 23/X insidevancouver.ca/2015/05/30/fre…

I have nothing against FIFA women's soccer, but is that all-ages soccer-viewing beer garden for 5000 really worth the combined cultural & social value of three years of Pride Parades, St Patrick's Day Parades, Lantern Festivals and 4/20 events? To me, it seems unbalanced. 24/X

I can think of one simple way to start getting event policing costs down. For all regular annual events like the Pride Parade, preplanning should let @VancouverPD officers be scheduled as part of their regular time, not overtime which doubles the policing bill. 25/X

Maybe @CityofVancouver needs a public events ombudsman or auditor, with the knowledge and experience to help ensure @VancouverPD can keep public events safe, but also keep event policing costs down to a reasonable level. 26/X #vanpoli

To be clear, I am not trying to second-guess or attack the @VancouverPD. I am not a policing or event security expert. Our 4/20 group has a good relationship with VPD, and I'm glad they're around to help people at public events be safe and secure. 27/X #vanpoli

However, there's a serious problem with escalating police costs for public events in #vancity, whether protest, parade or lantern festival. The rules aren't fair. Too many local, grassroots community events become popular & then get crushed by bills from @VancouverPD. 28/X

Like other event organizers, we have no input into how many officers @VancouverPD deploys. During 4/20, most of police I see are standing in circles talking to each other. But when there's a rare problem and we need them, they're right there to help out. 29/X

I imagine VPD base their deployment on a worst-case scenario basis, like to defend against a terror attack or a mass shooting. As event organizers, all we know is that policing costs vary wildly from year to year, and we don't find out the cost until the event's over. 30/X

The current situation in @CityofVancouver has made it impossible for any public event to cover @VancouverPD costs without a city subsidy & also some corporate sponsors. This is a bad policy that has wiped out too many lovely local grassroots community events. 31/X #vanpoli

If you're a "protest" in #vancity then you don't get sent any civic or policing bills, because it's your right to protest. But if you become a "sanctioned" event, then you get stuck with huge policing bills. That doesn't make sense and is not right. 32/X

I can understand why organizers of the Pride Parade might wonder why they are handing over so much money to city & police every year, when the majority of events in the city, including 4/20, are "protests" and don't get a policing bill. 33/X

And on the other hand, us 4/20 organizers wonder why thepolicing cost for our protest makes headlines every year, while the huge jump in policing costs for Pride and subsequent city payout of $75,000 got virtually no media attention at all? 34/X

It seems to me that Pride Parade, St Patrick's Day Parade, Women's March, 4/20 protest, fireworks, rock concerts, hockey games, even the hockey riots, should all be treated equally, and covered by @VancouverPD general budget. Policing is a basic civic service. 35/X #vanpoli

If @CityofVancouver is going to charge anyone for costs of policing, they should start with corporate for-profit events like hockey games & concerts, and then the for-profit bars whose customers require extra policing. Right now the system is all backwards! 36/X

So hey there media folks @EmilyLazatin980 @simonplittle @Howellings @MichelleGhsoub @JohnKurucz @carlitopablo @MattMeuse @joeruttle @fumano @nickeagland @BrownieScott etc, read this thread. These are all my talking points about 4/20 costs for future interviews. 37/X #vanpoli

Instead of articles focusing on 4/20 costs in isolation, reporters should dig deeper & discuss the negative effects soaring policing costs are having on all of #vancity's best grassroots community events. 38/X

Reporters should ask the @CityofVancouver and @VancouverPD why policing costs for Pride Parade jumped so high in 2016. Then ask what the policing cost is for other events and protests, and who pays. 39/X

Ask why profitable bars that release drunks onto the street don't foot the bill for those policing costs, but fabulous free non-profit grassroots community parades and festivals get huge bills which they could never afford to pay? 40/X

Ask why @CityofVancouver and @vancouverpd send out a media release to highlight the costs of the 4/20 protest, but don't want to release any figures for the policing costs of events like Pride or Italian Day? #41/X

Ask why high policing costs mean we can't enjoy an Illuminares Lantern Festival or a St Patrick's Day Parade, and why the Pride Parade can only survive by begging the city for a substantial bail-out on top of their annual subsidy and corporate sponsors. 42/X

These are important, interesting discussion points that could lead to sensible reforms in how event policing costs are covered in our city. This is a conversation we need to have in @CityofVancouver. 43/X

Here's the first in a series of articles I'm writing for @georgiastraight on this important topic. straight.com/cannabis/10399… 44/X #vanpoli

By the way, I don't think this is an evil plot by @VancouverPD and @CityofVancouver to close community events. I think it's just an old, poorly-considered policy that's become entrenched over the years despite negative results. Now it's time for a change. 45/X #vanpoli #vancity

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