Excessive ticketing complaint in Downtown Eastside dismissed

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Vancouver police board has dismissed a complaint about excessive ticketing in the Downtown Eastside.

A packed audience at police headquarters started heckling the mayor as the police board moved to support the department’s current practices.

Police say the number of jaywalking tickets in the Downtown Eastside has dropped by more than half in the last few years, but activists say it’s still way higher than in any other parts of the city.

“We need the police to take their boots off our necks and get off our backs,” argued Aiyanas Ormond of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, who claims police discrimination against residents of the Downtown Eastside.

Mayor Gregor Robertson says while the facts don’t support the complaint, he’s urging police to keep trying to reduce the number of tickets handed out.

“The numbers have been going down. There’s been, I think, a more modern approach to it and a recognition that enforcement isn’t the only solution here.”

With the audience chanting “Hey Gregor, what you gonna do? Who’s in charge, the police or you?”, the police board left the room.

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