TEAM’S Robust Public Safety Plan Will Restore Order and Treat Addiction More Effectively

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With Crime Moving in the Wrong Direction After Four Years Of Ken Sim, TEAM Says Action Is Needed, Not A Plebiscite

VANCOUVER (Sept. 18, 2026) – TEAM for a Livable Vancouver today released a comprehensive four-part plan to restore public safety, strengthen neighbourhood policing and take a new recovery-oriented approach to Vancouver’s addiction crisis.

Public safety remains one of Vancouverites’ top concerns, and the latest VPD statistics show crime moving in the wrong direction. Through July, reported assaults were up 6.5% compared with the same period last year. In July alone, Vancouver recorded 413 reported assaults — more than 13 every day.

At the same time, a national survey released this month found 52% of Canadians surveyed viewed Vancouver as unsafe.

“Ken Sim was elected four years ago promising to restore public safety. Now, weeks before another election, ABC is offering Vancouver a non-binding plebiscite,” said TEAM mayoral candidate Colleen Hardwick. “Vancouverites don’t need another ballot question to tell us they want safe streets. They need a serious plan and a City Hall prepared to act.”

Hardwick released the plan at Mi Tierra Latina, a Latin American specialty grocery store at 1757 Robson Street. Store owners say shoplifting, sometimes involving violence, is getting worse. A pregnant employee at the store’s Davie Street outlet recently reported being shoved in the stomach when she tried to intervene with a shoplifter.

TEAM’s Restoring Order to Our City: Public Safety and Recovery Plan has four components:

Residents’ Safety Action Plan – Target repeat violent offenders, adopt zero tolerance for open drug use in shared public spaces, strengthen enforcement against street disorder, drug trafficking and repeat property crime, and improve neighbourhood-level crime reporting.
A Community-First Approach to Policing – Strengthen district policing, support Community Policing Centres and Block Watch, improve coordination with neighbourhoods and businesses, and establish a Victims Response Standard so residents who report crime receive better communication and follow-up. No victim should have to chase the system to find out what is happening with their case.
TEAM would ask the Vancouver Police Board to establish a consistent victim-communication standard under which victims know their point of contact, establish how and when they will be updated, receive acknowledgement when they submit additional evidence, and are clearly informed when their investigation concludes.
Violence Against Women Prevention Strategy – Establish a Municipal Intimate Partner Violence Task Force, strengthen victim services and risk assessment, expand prevention education and appoint a City Women’s Safety Lead to coordinate action and report publicly on progress.
Focusing on Recovery: A New Approach to Addiction – Use City land, zoning, permitting and partnerships to expand access to treatment and recovery-oriented housing; establish an Immediate Treatment and Recovery Pathway with Vancouver Coastal Health; and work with the Province to expand detox, treatment, recovery and secure-care capacity.

“Keeping people alive is essential, but we cannot stop there,” Hardwick said. “People struggling with addiction deserve to recover, regain control over their lives and reconnect with their families and communities. And Vancouver residents deserve streets, parks and neighbourhoods that are safe, clean, and orderly.”

TEAM’s plan would combine stronger enforcement in public spaces with faster connections to treatment and recovery, while using the City’s powers over policing priorities, bylaws, zoning, permitting, City land and local partnerships.

A TEAM City Council will restore order in public spaces, target repeat violent offenders, strengthen community policing, take concrete action to prevent violence against women and make recovery the goal of Vancouver’s response to addiction.

TEAM also announced a Downtown Eastside Audit to bring greater transparency and accountability to how public money is being spent in the neighbourhood. The audit would examine City grants, programs, contracts and other municipal spending, identify gaps and duplication across governments and service providers, and publicly report what is working, what is not, and where resources are still needed.