DPD Annual Report to Community 2022

REPORT TO OUR COMMUNITY 2022

DEAR COMMUNITY MEMBERS

CHIEF NEIL DUBORD CHIEF’S

MESSAGE

On behalf of the Delta Police Department (DPD) Team, it is with immense pride that I present the 2022 Annual Report to our community.

As always, in 2022, our team remained agile and responsive to our community’s evolving needs and expectations. We made great strides in delivering services through the lens of safe and healthy communities, aligning with our 2022-2025 Community Safety and WellBeing Plan (CSWP).

While the years may change, the one constant for the DPD is our commitment to a No-Call-too-Small philosophy to foster relationships with the community in support of our community-first policing approach.

We continue to recognize that the DPD operates in a complex environment with a myriad of social and health issues impacting vulnerable citizens. Thus, building safe and healthy communities is a shared responsibility, and as we move forward we remain committed to transformational change with collaboration, service, diversity and inclusiveness being at the core of our work.

Ensuring Delta is one of the safest communities regionally, provincially and nationally remains a steadfast priority for the DPD team—whether on the front line or behind the scenes—as evidenced by the current Crime Severity Index, which is almost half of the provincial average and 25% lower than the national. I have witnessed the DPD team sow seeds of dedication, hard work and commitment, and I commend each and every one of them for bringing their best for our community and each other.

And most importantly, I extend my gratitude to our community members and partners, Delta Mayor and Council and the Delta Police Board for working with us, and supporting us to ensure that Delta remains one of the best places to live, work, and visit.

Stay safe, stay well and take care of one another.

The Delta Police Department and Board acknowledge that we are located on the shared, traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the sc̓əwaθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and other Coast Salish Peoples.

GEORGE V. HARVIE BOARD CHAIR’S MESSAGE

On behalf of the Delta Police Board, I am pleased to present the Delta Police Department’s 2022 Annual Report. Our top priority as a Board is to ensure the DPD provides world class policing services for our community to remain one of the safest in the country. We are proud to report that together with the DPD, we continue to make significant progress for our community’s safety and well-being. These efforts include enhanced visibility and presence, community outreach programs, and the deployment of advanced technology to support our officers in their efforts. Our officers continue to build positive relationships with the community through community policing initiatives and partnerships with local organizations.

We are also proud to report that the DPD continues to excel in professionalism, accountability, and transparency, and that our officers are widely respected for their commitment to public service, as evidenced by a public complaint rate of less than 1% of all documented interactions.

The Board understands that maintaining a safe community and providing excellence in policing services is an ongoing effort, and we remain committed to working with the DPD to provide world class policing in the years ahead.

Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude to the DPD team for their unwavering dedication to community safety and well-being.

Thank you for your continued support. Together, we will continue to build a safer community for all.

DELTA POLICE BOARD MEMBERS

annette garm

karen hossack sharan oberoi firth bateman

lara victoria

MAYOR

POLICING PHILOSOPHY

Our community-first policing philosophy prioritizes the needs and expectations of our community at the forefront of our service delivery model. The foundation of the community-first policing approach is our No Call too Small philosophy, which means our community can depend on us to respond to any and all safety concerns, no matter how minor.

NO CALL TOO SMALL

Our No Call too Small (NCTS) approach has remained steadfast since 1888 despite the evolution of policing throughout history. We place exceptional value on our community members’ needs and thus take pride in our response and treat every interaction as an opportunity to make a positive impact. Simply put, NCTS—a communitycentric blueprint—ensures that we remain proactively connected to our community by focusing on minor safety concerns to prevent them from becoming prominent.

COMMUNITY WELLNESS SPECTRUM

For our communities to be safe, we acknowledge and focus on the essential yet complex combination of social and behavioural health issues that may be the root cause of crime. While the responsibility for these issues rests with the respective services, the DPD team aspires to contribute to our community’s safety and well-being by focusing on our expanding role within the Community Wellness Spectrum beyond the traditional incident response.

Proactivity reducing identified risks

Promoting and maintaining community safety and wellbeing PREVENTION

Community Wellness Spectrum

MEASURING SUCCESS IN COMMUNITY SAFETY

2021 CRIME SEVERITY INDEX (CSI)

The CSI is the only national measure accurately comparing crime consistently across the country. It is calculated based on the amount and seriousness of the offences reported to the police. A low CSI rate is indicative of a relatively safe community. Index scores are compared to a baseline of 100, calculated using historical data.

POLICE LEGITIMACY

Delta has one of the lowest CSIs in BC and Canada

Police legitimacy, reflected through community trust and confidence in policing, is an essential component of progressive policing and maintaining community safety. A critical factor in police legitimacy is a low complaint rate against the police. Accordingly, the DPD prioritizes ongoing and innovative initiatives to deliver the best service possible and ensure that our complaint rate remains below 1% of all documented interactions.

0.02% POLICE ACT COMPLAINTS

0.005% COMPLAINTS ALLEGING BIAS

BC 92.6 DELTA 57.6 CANADA 73.7

0.002% COMPLAINTS ALLEGING EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE

KEEPING OUR COMMUNITY INFORMED

10,414 9-1-1 calls responded to

~300 sworn members & police staff served our community

$230k crypto-currency scam investigated with Interpol

5 School Liaison officers served nearly 16,000 students

15 languages spoken by multilingual

~1 million Facebook pages reached

18,000 hectares jurisdiction size

71,000 police units dispatched

3,930 false/abandoned 9-1-1 calls responded to

250+ volunteers served our community

~110,000 community members (population) served Named BC’s Top 100 Employers for the 4th year in a row

70,000 downloads of Bend Don’t Break podcast

ROAD SAFETY IN OUR COMMUNITY

Road safety is a shared responsibility best addressed by a comprehensive approach involving various stakeholders, including police, engineers, policymakers and road users. As as an essential stakeholder in road safety, the DPD remains committed to making our roads safe through continuous prevention, education, enforcement, and collaborative efforts.

12 road safety initiatives delivered in partnership with ICBC, focusing on enforcement and education initiatives around pedestrian safety, speeding and distracted driving.

EXCESSIVE SPEEDING

82 people On avg.

Excessive speeding (exceeding the speed limit by more than 40 km/hr) has serious and fatal consequences.

255 vehicles impounded for excessive speeding

A sample of excessive speeds for which vehicles were impounded is provided below.

EXCESSIVE SPEEDING RESULTS IN:

• a $368 fine

• three (3) penalty points

Are killed annually in BC due to speedrelated crashes.

• vehicle impoundment for 7, 30 or 60 days, depending on the frequency

COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SAFETY

Delta roadways are a hub for considerable commercial vehicle traffic due to Delta’s geographical placement. For this reason, the DPD has a dedicated Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit, working with other police and road safety partners to ensure that the vehicles comply with the necessary regulations for the safety of everyone on our roads.

902 Commercial vehicle inspections completed

546 Commercial vehicle Notice and Order/ Out of Service Notices issued

60.5% Roadside inspection failure rate

332 Commercial vehicle violation tickets issued

PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOUR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES ARE IN GOOD WORKING ORDER.

IMPAIRED DRIVING

433 Impaired drivers taken off Delta roads

9 Impaired drivers taken off Delta roads weekly

On May 17, 2008, Delta’s four-year Alexa Middelear was killed by an impaired driver. In honour of Alexa and to prevent similar tragedies, the DPD remains committed to education and enforcement efforts to take impaired drivers off our roads.

PLEASE PLAN A SAFE RIDE HOME IF YOU WILL BE DRINKING. DO NOT RISK YOUR OR OTHERS’ LIVES.

SUPPORTING VULNERABLE COMMUNITY MEMBERS

MENTAL HEALTH UNIT

DPD’s Mental Health Unit works in collaboration with internal, community and health partners to:

• conduct reviews of files where mental health is believed to be a factor

• provide referrals

• conduct outreach in our community

346 Individuals transported to the hospital under the Mental Health Act Individuals were transported for one or more of the three reasons

1,795 (7.3%) Total mental health-related calls for service

135 Individuals transported had intersectionality with substance use

107 Inability to self-care

189 Risk to Self

137 Risk to others

COMMUNITY NAVIGATOR UNIT

DPD’s Community Navigator Unit (CNU) is an agile initiative that can change with the community’s needs. The CNU is the result of our commitment to implementing innovative and progressive programs in support of community safety and well-being. It is also part of our focus on our expanding role toward social responsibility in the Community Wellness Spectrum.

The CNU will aim to connect vulnerable community members who encounter the DPD due to unmet social and behavioural health needs with the appropriate services and resources and navigate the complex health and social services systems.

In 2022, our efforts focused on:

determining our community’s needs

developing a framework for CNU

completing recruitment to identify the successful candidate for the role

YOUTH LIAISON UNIT

DPD’s Youth Liaison Unit works with at and high-risk youth in our community. The Unit aims to stabilize the youth by establishing positive connections with police, schools, counsellors, and mentors, with the criminal justice system to be used as a last resort. The Unit is guided by trauma-informed practices and assesses each case for necessary follow-up, engagement, and action to assist youth in crisis.

120 counselling sessions held.

25 at-risk and high-risk youth received ongoing intervention and support

23

36

high-school wrestling sessions held

30-35

participants attended each session

23

at-risk and high-risk Delta youth participated in voluntary counselling arranged and supported by DPD.

20

at-risk and high-risk youth stabilized, requiring no further intervention

Pop-up Youth Hub events hosted in partnership with the Delta School District and the City of Delta

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE YOUTH LIASON UNIT

INTO THE SUMMER WITH OUR COMMUNITY

On June 22, 2022, the Delta Police Foundation, in partnership with the DPD, held the inaugural Summer Solstice Run, Walk and Roll (SSRWR). Over 200 community members, ranging from children to seniors, ran, walked and rolled alongside DPD officers on a 2.5 km and 5 km route. Seniors from local care homes also participated, with DPD officers pushing their wheelchairs through the route.

The SSRWR was followed by entertainment, fun and food for everyone! The focus of this event was the same as others held by the Foundation: to support and strengthen the relationship between the DPD and our community.