Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Safety Office
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To improve community safety, well being and quality of life by increasing positive outcomes for inner city residents and workers in the community.
COMMUNITY KEEPING DAVE DICKSON!
Georgia Straight- Straight Talk August 10/06
Popular Ex-cop gets two-year contract
A former Vancouver police constable has dropped a human-rights complaint against the Vancouver police department, the City of Vancouver, and the Vancouver Police Union.
Dave Dickson, a 24-year veteran who retired in 2003, told the Straight that he dropped the complaint when he learned “about a week ago” that his former department planned to give him a two-year contract in a civilian capacity.
“[Former District Two commander] Bob Rolls became deputy chief a couple of weeks back, and the first thing he did was offer me a contract,” Dickson said in an August 8 phone interview. “So I’ve been contracted back as the new sex-trade liaison for the VPD. I always said, if someone steps up to the plate I would drop the complaint in a second. So I did.”
In a January interview with the Straight, Dickson said he filed the complaint because he felt that all three organizations were discriminating against him due to his age. The 56-year-old spent much of his career working with marginalized youth and women on the Downtown Eastside and received high praise from that community.
But in 2003, approximately 150 officers retired after changes were made to their pension plan, which would have resulted in lower payouts had they chosen to stay on the job. Dickson reapplied to the VPD but was not rehired for a uniformed post. He eventually worked for six months as a civilian liaison, but that position expired earlier this year.
“The title is sex-trade liaison, but it encompasses a bit more than just the sex-trade workers,” Dickson said of his latest contract offer. “It’s also the mentally ill. I’ve worked with Strathcona [Community Mental Health Team], Portland [Housing Society], and Victory House, so I’m an advocate for them too.”
Kate Hodgson, coordinator at the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Safety Office, said the community is “really happy” that Dickson is back.
“They’re happy to be keeping him in some capacity,” Hodgson told the Straight. “The ideal was to have him back as an officer, but this is great. People in the community are saying, ‘We fought really hard and we get to keep him.’?”
Hodgson said there was a petition, presentations to the police board, and a letter-writing campaign to keep Dickson around. “Everyone feels like it’s paid off in some way.”
Dickson said he will carry on as he has to this point, helping vulnerable young women while also advocating for male sex-trade workers, who are often reluctant to come forward.