Vancouver Greens on safety: CROW outreach team and independent police reviews
The Green Party of Vancouver proposes an Office of Community Safety, a 24/7 outreach team called CROW that is separate from police, restored funding for Sex Worker Safety Coordinators, and regular independent reviews of police spending, which the party says is 24% of the city budget.
SAFETY AND WELLBEING · PAGES 23 TO 25
Community Safety: what the Platform 2026 says
The Green Party of Vancouver lists its commitments on community safety on pages 23 to 25 of its 2026 platform. The first is a new Office of Community Safety. The party says this office would bring fire, police, licensing, property use and planning staff together, so that they deal with neighbourhood problems early and as one team. The platform also calls for safe places where unhoused people can gather, rest and get support, which the party says would reduce encampments and street disorder.
Several items put care and outreach ahead of fines and arrests. The Greens would write city licence, zoning and permit conditions for health and shelter sites, with the goal of less drug use in public, fewer overdoses and fewer problems for the blocks around them. They would create CROW, the Community Response Outreach Workers team: a 24/7 team with its own phone number, separate from police and ambulance services, for non-emergency calls about people who are homeless, using drugs or at risk in other ways. The platform also asks for money for de-escalation training and for restorative justice, where the person who caused harm meets the people affected and works to repair it.
Page 25 turns to violence against women and sex workers. The platform says ABC's council cut funding this year for Sex Worker Safety Coordinators, a role recommended by the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry led by Justice Wally Oppal, and the Greens would restore it. They also commit to the MMIWG2S+ Calls for Justice. MMIWG2S+ stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people, and the Calls for Justice are the recommendations in the final report of the national inquiry on that subject. The party would add a city strategy and task force on intimate partner violence, which means violence by a current or former partner.
On policing, the Greens want regular independent reviews of police performance and more public reports from the Vancouver Police Board to Council. Council approves the police budget, and the Police Board directs the department, so the two policing items would need the board's cooperation. CROW, the safety office and the coordinator funding would be paid from the city budget, which Council approves each year.
THE PARTY'S NUMBERS
Figures in this chapter
Share of the City of Vancouver budget spent on police services, according to the platform
The party's figure, page 25Hours the proposed CROW outreach team would operate: all day, every day
The party's figure, page 24The year the platform calls one of the deadliest for sex workers in Vancouver in recent memory
The party's figure, page 2511 COMMITMENTS
What the party says it would do
Office of Community Safety
The Greens would create an Office of Community Safety that joins neighbourhood services such as fire, police, licensing, property use and planning into one planned approach. The party says the office would be built on the right of residents and visitors to feel and be safe.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council can create a city office and direct city staff, but police take part only through the Vancouver Police Board, which directs the department.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 23
Street disorder and places to go
The party would provide safe places where unhoused and marginalized people can gather, rest, get support and connect with others. The platform says this would reduce encampments and street disorder and make the sharing of public spaces fairer.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council funds shelter sites and city outreach and decides how city land and buildings are used.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 23
Overdose prevention, harm reduction, and community standards
The Greens would develop a legally workable set of city licence, zoning and permit conditions for health and shelter sites. The conditions would aim to reduce drug use in public and overdose risk, help people recover from intoxication and connect with health care, and limit effects on nearby areas, while requiring standards for service, cleanliness, public safety, accountability and good relations with neighbours.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council sets the city's licence, zoning and permit rules, while health services and drug policy belong to the province and the federal government.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 24
Compassionate and consistent public space management
The party supports an approach to public spaces that puts diversion, outreach and connection to services before enforcement. The platform says public spaces must stay safe and open to everyone.
- Who has the power
- City Council City staff manage streets and public spaces under Council's direction and budget.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 24
Safer communities through de-escalation
The Greens would invest in crisis intervention and de-escalation programs, which teach people how to calm a tense situation, for residents, businesses and communities. The platform says prevention and early action are effective public safety tools.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council can fund training and community programs from the city budget.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 24
CROW (Community Response Outreach Workers) Team
The party would create a 24/7 mobile response team, separate from police and medical services, to handle non-emergency calls about people experiencing homelessness, addiction or other vulnerabilities. It would have its own phone number for neighbours, businesses, emergency services and partner agencies, and the party says it would cost less than current responses and reduce the workload of emergency services.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council funds city outreach, so it could create and pay for this team from the city budget.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 24
Restorative Vancouver
The Greens would release funding the party says has stalled for made-in-Vancouver restorative justice programs, which bring together the person who caused harm and the people affected to repair it. The party wants restorative practices used in schools, community organizations, public institutions and community life, to make Vancouver a restorative city and reduce repeat offending.
- Who has the power
- City, with others Council can fund community programs, but using these practices in schools would need the Vancouver School Board, which runs them.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 24
MMIWG2S+ Calls for Justice and sex worker safety
The platform says 2026 has been one of the deadliest years for sex workers in Vancouver in recent memory, and that ABC cut funding this year for Sex Worker Safety Coordinators, a role recommended by Justice Wally Oppal's Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. The Greens would restore that funding, keep supporting safety measures the party says it fought to protect earlier this year, and support the MMIWG2S+ (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people) Calls for Justice and the Red Women Rising recommendations.
- Who has the power
- City Council The coordinator positions are paid from the city budget, which Council approves each year.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 25
Intimate partner violence prevention strategy
The party would create a city strategy and a task force to prevent violence by a current or former partner. The plan would coordinate services, expand support for survivors, improve data and prevention education, and set clear responsibility for leading the work.
- Who has the power
- City, with others Council can set up a city strategy and task force, and coordinating services means working with the other governments and agencies that run them.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 25
Public safety accountability
The platform says police services take 24% of the city's budget. The Greens would require regular independent reviews of police performance, so that spending is based on evidence and is open and accountable.
- Who has the power
- City, with others Council approves the police budget, but the Vancouver Police Board directs the department, so a review would need the board's cooperation.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 25
Transparent and non-partisan police governance
The Greens would ask the Vancouver Police Board for regular reports to Council on budgets, performance, priorities and community safety results. The platform says policing needs strong civilian oversight and freedom from political interference, while staying accountable to the public.
- Who has the power
- City, with others The Vancouver Police Board, a separate body from Council, directs the police, so Council can request these reports but the board provides them.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 25
WHO WOULD HAVE TO ACT
Where the power sits for this chapter
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about community safety
What is the Green Party of Vancouver's CROW team?
CROW stands for Community Response Outreach Workers. The Green Party of Vancouver would create a 24/7 mobile team, separate from police and medical services, with its own phone number, to answer non-emergency calls about people experiencing homelessness, addiction or other vulnerabilities. The party says it would cost less than current responses and reduce the workload of emergency services (platform, page 24).
Would the Vancouver Greens cut the police budget?
The platform proposes reviews of police spending and names no cut. The Green Party of Vancouver says police services take 24% of the city budget and should face regular independent performance reviews so that spending is based on evidence and open to the public. It also wants the Vancouver Police Board to report to Council more often (platform, page 25).
What does the Green Party of Vancouver say about sex worker safety?
The Green Party of Vancouver says ABC cut funding this year for Sex Worker Safety Coordinators, a role recommended by Justice Wally Oppal's Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. The Greens would restore that funding and support the MMIWG2S+ Calls for Justice and the Red Women Rising recommendations (platform, page 25).
What would the Vancouver Greens do about overdoses and public drug use?
The Green Party of Vancouver would write city licence, zoning and permit conditions for health and shelter sites that aim to reduce public drug use and overdose risk and to connect people with health care. The conditions would also set standards for cleanliness, safety and relations with neighbours (platform, page 24).
Can Vancouver City Council make the police report to it under the Green plan?
Council approves the police budget, but the Vancouver Police Board directs the police department. The Green Party of Vancouver's plan asks the Police Board for regular reports to Council on budgets, performance and results, so the board would have to take part (platform, page 25).
What is the Green Party of Vancouver's Office of Community Safety?
It is a proposed city office that would join fire, police, licensing, property use and planning services into one approach to neighbourhood safety. The Green Party of Vancouver says it would act on problems early and be based on the right of residents and visitors to feel and be safe (platform, page 23).
Does the Green Party of Vancouver have a plan on intimate partner violence?
Yes. The Green Party of Vancouver would create a city strategy and task force to prevent intimate partner violence, meaning violence by a current or former partner. It would coordinate services, expand support for survivors, and improve data and prevention education (platform, page 25).
ON THE BALLOT
The Green Party of Vancouver candidates behind this
Sources
Every commitment on this page comes from the party's own material, marked SAYS SO ITSELF. It proves what the party says it would do. Who holds each power is our own addition, from the sources listed after it.
- Platform 2026, Green Party of Vancouver (72-page PDF, last updated September 29, 2026) SAYS SO ITSELFGreen Party of Vancouver · pages 23 to 25 · published · checked
- National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and its final report Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada · checked