Home
World
Canada
- BC
- Calgary
- Edmonton
- Saskatchewan
- Manitoba
- Thunder Bay
- Sudbury
- Windsor
- Toronto
- Ottawa
- Montreal
- NB
- PEI
- NS
- NL
- North
Politics
Health
Arts & Entertainment
- Music
- Film
- Television
- Books
- Media
- Art & Design
- Theatre
Technology & Science
Money
Consumer Life
Diversions
Weather
Your Voice

Vancouver police accused of skewing response-time numbers

Last Updated: Thursday, February 15, 2007 | 8:10 AM PT

CBC News

Questions have been raised about the methodology used by the Vancouver Police Department in compiling the statistics in its recent report on response times, to make its case for more officers out on patrol.

The report says Vancouver police have the slowest response time of any police department in North America when it comes to attending the most serious incidents.

But self-appointed police watchdog Rider Cooey said there's a problem with the way the department is calculating the average response time.

He said the report doesn't take into account calls where police respond in less than a minute, but are including calls where they take up to 10 hours to get to the scene.

"It seems to me to exclude only those calls [under one minute], leaves six- and eight-hour response times still as part of the statistical average, it seems to me that skews the average very high."

Sgt. Adam Palmer, who compiled the report, said calls under one minute were eliminated because they're considered what police term "on-view calls" — in which an officer witnesses a serious crime in progress and moves in.

Cooey said he can't imagine why those calls aren't considered statistically valid. He notes they show there are enough police officers, and that they are deployed properly.

The Vancouver Police Department is asking city council for an extra $7 million over the next two years to hire an additional 65 officers.

This story is now closed to commenting.

Internal Links

Call 911 in Vancouver, and then wait

External Links

Vancouver Police Department Patrol Deployment Study (.pdf)

(Note: CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites - links will open in new window)

British Columbia Headlines

Man in Motion lights up crowd in Richmond, B.C.: Wheelchair marathoner Rick Hansen — known as the Man in Motion from his worldwide fundraising tour — lit the Olympic cauldron in Richmond, B.C., in front of a crowd of thousands Tuesday night.
Explosive chemicals not stolen after all: RCMP: Potentially explosive ammonium nitrate fertilizer that appeared to disappear on the eve of the Vancouver Olympics was not stolen, the RCMP say.
Ludwig search warrant cites phone records, letter to EnCana: CBC has obtained a copy of the search warrant executed last month on Wiebo Ludwig's farm near Hythe, Alta., in connection with the investigation into the bombing of natural gas pipeline sites in B.C.
Vancouver tap water vies with Olympic sponsor: Vancouver has started a campaign to encourage Olympic tourists to drink the region's tap water instead of buying bottled water, creating a potential conflict with one of the Games' biggest sponsors.
Olympic spirit will launch B.C. reforms: throne speech: The B.C. government says it will use the province's post-Olympics momentum to drive changes that include offering tax breaks to families with children, reforming education and lobbying Ottawa to amend "Byzantine bureaucratic practices."

Canada Headlines

Health costs push Alberta budget deficit to $4.75B: Alberta's Progressive Conservative government is projecting a record $4.75-billion budget deficit and planning cuts in many departments while increasing health-care spending.
Trenton colonel's charges spur cold case review: The 2001 slaying of a Nova Scotia woman at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario is among the cases being re-examined after murder charges were laid against Col. Russell Williams.
Neighbours stunned by arrest of Col. Williams: Ottawa resident Michael Gennis was stunned when he found out his new neighbour, Col. Russell Williams, had been charged with killing two women in eastern Ontario.
Olympic spirit will launch B.C. reforms: throne speech: The B.C. government says it will use the province's post-Olympics momentum to drive changes that include offering tax breaks to families with children, reforming education and lobbying Ottawa to amend "Byzantine bureaucratic practices."
Vancouver tap water vies with Olympic sponsor: Vancouver has started a campaign to encourage Olympic tourists to drink the region's tap water instead of buying bottled water, creating a potential conflict with one of the Games' biggest sponsors.

Top CBCNews.ca Headlines

Headlines

Trenton colonel's charges spur cold case review: The 2001 slaying of a Nova Scotia woman at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario is among the cases being re-examined after murder charges were laid against Col. Russell Williams.
Health costs push Alberta budget deficit to $4.75B: Alberta's Progressive Conservative government is projecting a record $4.75-billion budget deficit and planning cuts in many departments while increasing health-care spending.
Ottawa to appeal injection site ruling: The federal government is asking the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal a lower court ruling that sanctioned Vancouver's supervised drug injection site.
Haitian man pulled from rubble: A 28-year-old man has been pulled from rubble in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, claiming to have been trapped there since the massive earthquake on Jan. 12.
Tories need plan for isotope shortage: Ignatieff: Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff accused the Conservative government of having no plan of action to deal with a medical isotope shortage expected to worsen later this month.