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Next month, we’ll be celebrating 20 years since Transit Police became operational as a Designated Policing Unit on December 4, 2005. To this day, we remain the only police service in Canada dedicated to a transit system, which has allowed us to hone our expertise in policing a unique environment of heavy rail, light rail, bus and ferry routes, which comprise the transit system.
With a service area of over 1800 km2, which encompasses all of Metro Vancouver and its over 3 million residents, we’ve become efficient at using statistical data, intelligence, and crime reports to deploy officers to where they’re most needed. By having our dispatch centre in-house and accessible 24/7 by phone and text to anyone who feels unsafe during their transit journey, we can arrange for help to be sent quickly to where it’s needed. Community Safety Officers, meanwhile, respond to lower risk calls for police assistance in order to allow police officers greater availability to respond to emergent calls for service, and CPC volunteers help spread transit safety information to the traveling public.
We work closely with partners in policing, as well as transit employees, to minimize transit system delays and keep everyone safe. In addition to patrol officers, who respond to calls for service and take on projects that increase transit safety, officers in specialty units focus on specific areas of policing. Detectives investigate complex crimes, the K9 Unit protects transit stations and vehicles from explosives, and the Crime Suppression Team takes on organized and violent criminals working along the system, just to name a few. Officers on secondments with regional teams, like those that address gangs, extortion and auto theft, exchange expertise that helps keep transit safe, as well as the entire region.
In all aspects of policing, we are guided by our focus on serving the diverse communities of Metro Vancouver. The Community Engagement Team specializes in making transit safe and accessible for vulnerable groups such as newcomers to Canada, those affected by mental illness, unhoused individuals, or schoolchildren using transit by themselves for the first time. Our Blue Eagle Community Cadet program gives young teens an opportunity to develop leadership skills while learning about Indigenous culture and policing.
Standing alongside our first responder partners, we are proud to play a pivotal role in ensuring safety during large-scale events like the annual Celebration of Light, participate in fundraising events for charities like Special Olympics BC and Cops for Cancer, respond to emergencies that threaten people and property, and serve the communities of Metro Vancouver and beyond.
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