Logistics unclear on Vancouver mayor-elect's plan to hire dozens of police officers, nurses

Vancouver mayor-elect Ken Sim says his priority during his transition to office is to focus on his promise to hire more police officers and mental-health nurses, but many questions remain about the operational details of that plan.

Sim, who won Vancouver's election Saturday with more than 85,700 votes, spoke to media Monday morning about his transition plan. Sim takes office on Nov. 7 and said his team is using the next few weeks to "map out" election promises over the next four years.

"Everyone in the city knows what our priorities are. In fact, they voted on it and they gave us a resounding 'yes' that they wanted to see it happen," he said.

"Public safety is a big priority so we want to get moving quickly on the 100 new police officers and the 100 mental health nurses."

Sim didn't hint at any major staffing shake-ups at city hall, saying he believes city staff are "incredible people."

"In some departments, they're working in very challenging environments with broken systems and we want to fix the broken systems so all of our people can succeed," he said.

100 OFFICERS, 100 NURSES

One of Sim's major election promises was to hire 100 more officers with the Vancouver Police Department and 100 mental-health nurses to work alongside the department.

Sim said the partnership wouldn't be unlike the department's Car 87 service, which pairs an officer with a nurse in order to respond to mental health emergencies when no crime is in progress. 

While Sim was asked about the specifics of that plan Monday, he insisted many of the details – including whether the nurses would work for the city or for Vancouver Coastal Health – were "operational questions."

"At the end of the day, what we do as mayor and council is paint the vision and we lend our support. It's really up to the VPD to decide how they operationalize it," he said.

Asked about ongoing nursing shortages across the province, Sim said the problem is with working conditions.

"They're really tough, they're under-resourced and it's a tough gig, especially under COVID and so a lot of nurses have left, but they have not left nursing yet. But they will, unless we give them an opportunity," he said.

As for police, Sim said he's been assured by the VPD that it would be able to hire 100 more officers within a year.

Sim also confirmed the city will provide funding for the new jobs but said the cost for that won't be passed along to residents through increased taxes.

"There are a lot of people out there that are looking for great employers," he said. "I think what we need to do and what we're excited about is we want to make the City of Vancouver a best employer. So when we do that and when we support our team, we'll be able to attract great individuals."