DTES advocates say police near overdose prevention sites deter people from accessing care

Advocates for people who use drugs say the police presence near overdose prevention sites on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside is deterring people from accessing life-saving care due to the lack of trust between law enforcement and the community.

BeeLee Lee, the vice president of the Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War has recorded numerous videos of police parked outside overdose prevention sites, which she said could worsen the current overdose crisis.

"It could cause somebody to go and use in an unsafe way and it could cause a fatal overdose," Lee said.

Lee’s cause for concern is supported by a 2019 study called “Policing space in the overdose crisis: A rapid ethnographic study of the impact of law enforcement practices on the effectiveness of overdose prevention sites.”

Ryan McNeil, a lead author on the study and an affiliated scientist with the BC Centre on Substance Use said that the existence of police in and around these sites discourages people from using them.

“Which is incredibly concerning in the context of an overdose crisis driven by a very toxic drug supply," McNeil told CTV News.

McNeil added that there are long-standing issues of trust in the neighbourhood, and that the greatest way to enhance access to these sites is by removing police.

As of August 2022, more than 10,000 people died of illicit drug overdoses in B.C. since the public health crisis was declared in 2016.

In a statement to CTV News, The Vancouver Police Department said there is no directive related to officers parking near these sites.

“Open-air drug use remains prolific throughout the Downtown Eastside. Whether police are present or not, people continue to access overdose prevention sites by the thousands,” the statement continued.

Sarah Blyth, the executive director of The Overdose Prevention Society, wants law enforcement to focus on building relationships with community members and encouraging them to use the sites.

“I’ve seen police do some good work, but this is not good work,” she said. "There's fires in the Downtown Eastside, there's people going missing, there's so many things that are a higher priority than just you know, harassing people."