VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Police Department has unveiled a five-year strategic plan aimed at improving public safety and stamping out crime across the city.
Police Chief Adam Palmer says the plan ranges from continuing the fight against violent crime and poor driving habits to engaging with youth, working more closely with mental-health partners and using high-tech methods to predict and target property crime.
The department's six-point strategy covers from 2017 to 2021 and was based on community meetings, written and online surveys conducted in 2015.
Palmer says some parts of the plan remain consistent, such as the focus on preventing property crime and violent crime.
But he says innovations highlight a stepped-up focus on mental health, as well as the development of cutting-edge software to help the department identify trends and remain a step ahead of potential offenders to prevent crime.
Palmer also says the department will spend more time concentrating on emerging problems, such as the opioid crisis, which claimed 914 lives in B.C. last year.
