The security consultant and retired Vancouver Police Department and Transit Police officer Curtis Robinson talks to Joseph Planta about various issues related to policing, crime and safety in Metro Vancouver.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

Curtis Robinson is called upon regularly for comment on matters policing and the sort. You’ve likely heard him on the radio on various stations in Metro Vancouver like CKNW and Pulse FM or quoted in various newspapers. And why wouldn’t he, what with a career of over twenty-four years at the Vancouver Police Department, retiring as a sergeant, and three years as a constable with Transit Police. He is a security consultant, who has been chair of Bar Watch for nearly five years now, and he’s taught policing at Discovery Community College in Surrey. He joins me now to reflect on law enforcement in this part of the world and beyond. There’s a strain of mistrust of the police here and elsewhere, and we’ll try to understand that and what might be done to retain confidence in our policing. The Independent Investigations Office, which is charged with investigating police forces in BC is backlogged and embattled. We have vigilante groups operating in the province, catching creeps and perverts online. There was a recent spate of gun violence due to gangs. There are record deaths due to drugs, the leading opioid of choice at the moment being Fentanyl. Then there’s the federal government’s intention to soon legalise marijuana. All these things and more affect our way of life in Metro Vancouver, so it’s worth talking about now. And in the spirit of candour and full disclosure, I should add that me and Curtis once worked together at a local towing company here in Vancouver. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, in person today, Curtis Robinson; Mr. Robinson, good morning.

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