To Serve and Protect: A Report on Policing in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside

Report of Pivot Legal Society, an organization that engages in law reform; legal education; and strategic legal action to advance the interests of marginalized persons in Vancouver, BC. This 2002 report represents a nine month long research program in which 50 sworn legal statements about interactions with the Vancouver Police Department were obtained. These statements, carefully documented and sworn by lawyers, present the direct personal experiences and observations of individuals living in the Downtown Eastside. The report provides evidence of systemic abuse of authority by police, including torture; unreasonable use of force; giving people "marching orders" to get out of town and imposing "no-go zones" on people within town; unlawful strip searches; and harassment of observers and witnesses of police abuse. The report calls for improved monitoring of enforcement actions and a public inquiry into police misconduct.