OneCity's Progressive Public Safety Plan: Safe Streets & Public Spaces for All

VANCOUVER, B.C. on the Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh – City Councillor Lucy Maloney and OneCity today announced the party’s Progressive Public Safety Plan: Safe Streets & Public Spaces for All. The plan will deliver proven public safety standards, support for first responders, and make streets, parks, and public spaces feel safe for everyone, no matter who they are or how they get around.

"I hear from Vancouverites all the time about how ABC has abandoned the things we know make us safer,” said OneCity Councillor Lucy Maloney. “We know what works based on Vancouver’s own success stories, and those in other cities. Our plan delivers safer streets, crisis response when you need it most, housing first as the foundation to a safe city, and basic maintenance of public spaces so people feel safe in every neighbourhood.”

OneCity’s Progressive Public Safety Plan prioritizes complete public safety, so that you feel safe no matter who you are, where you are, or how you get where you’re going. 

That means coordinated crisis response, effective intervention, supporting survivors, housing first, and a plan for safe streets and public spaces that don’t put your life at risk just crossing the road. And the party’s plan also delivers safety for first responders, emergency, social, and health workers who often interact with our neighbours on the worst day of their lives. 

"Parks, pathways, and bus stops belong to everyone, and that should be true at five o'clock on a November evening, not just on a sunny afternoon in July," said Caitlin Stockwell, OneCity Council Candidate. "When people feel safe using our public spaces after dark, they use them more, and that makes the whole neighbourhood feel more alive." 

OneCity’s 10 Point Progressive Public Safety Plan is built on 3 principles: 

1. Progressive Public Safety

• One coordinated crisis response system, where trained mental health professionals and peer responders respond to calls when police aren't needed. That way, police can focus on organized and major crime, and talented first responders can focus on the fire and medical emergencies they’re better trained to handle;

• Community violence intervention, using trusted community messengers, like CRCL teams, to step in before conflict escalates;

• Restorative justice that reduces reoffences, building on the successes of Vancouver's Downtown Community Court and Indigenous-led community safety models to reduce the harmful catch-and-release cycle that costs more and leads to worse outcomes for community;

• A Survivor Safety Fund, alongside support for survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence, with fast and low-barrier emergency money delivered by frontline organizations, plus a Community Safety Table to coordinate neighbourhood response and supporters so survivors aren't left navigating scattered services in a crisis; and

• Housing First, as the fundamental pillar in responding to the contributing factors of crime, because we know that when you have a safe home, you’re safer, and so are your neighbours.

2. Safe Streets & Public Spaces

• ReLight Vancouver, OneCity’s plan to make it easier and safer to get where you need to go any time of day with well-lit streets, parks, pathways, and bus stops in every neighbourhood, and a ban on hostile architecture in City-owned benches and shelters;

• Clean Streets, restoring reliable public garbage bins, expanding recycling beyond downtown, and publishing a public bin map; 

• Eyes Off, banning wearable recording devices like smart glasses in City-run change rooms, washrooms, and other municipal spaces so people can live safely without fear of non-consensually recording; and 

• Charge Safe / Ride Safe, e-bikes and scooters, and their batteries are the leading cause of increased road safety and fire risk across North America. We’ll regulate businesses selling unsafe e-bikes & batteries. And work with the Province on a battery trade-in program to manage major fire risks, while creating safe operating standards for e-bikes & e-scooters.

3. Public Accountability for Policing

• An independent, publicly reported organizational review of the VPD, which holds them to the same standard as any other public service: so we can see where to invest, where to find efficiencies, and which calls could be handled by other responses and supports. Because there has been no public accountability of this kind in this century. 

"I've spent years looking at how people actually move through this city, and every transit trip starts and ends on foot," said OneCity Candidate Iona Bonamis. "If the walk to the bus stop is scary, the whole trip is scary. ReLight Vancouver means bright, safe stops in every neighbourhood, not just downtown, and a public map so you can hold us to it.”

Vancouverites deserve a local government that treats public safety as something that affects their whole lives and their whole community, and doesn’t use it as a cheap political stunt to divide us. This plan delivers what first responders and experts have been calling for for years, wrap around supports, early intervention, and community care at the centre of building a safer city.

OneCity has the team and the plan to deliver progressive public safety and safe streets for everyone, regardless of who our next Mayor is. 

-30-