I sent the following to mayor and council:

Hi,

It’s come to my attention that you will be shortly considering a request by the VPD to buy a bunch of gas guzzling all terrain vehicles that they can use to travel across Vancouver’s beaches. I implore you to please reject the VPDs request for funding for this project.

This is a terrible idea, for many reasons:

ATVs on beaches detract from the whole ‘greenest city’ strategy. They’re inefficient, produce greenhouse gases, and on a micro-scale, foul up the air in their presence. In a city that’s trying to encourage people to use lower-carbon technqiues for lawn maintenance, this is rank hypocrisy. Vancouver should be a leader in using environmentally friendly techniques and technologies in providing services to its citizens, and on this score, ATVs are retrograde.

ATVs on beaches are bad for the park experience. Vancouver’s beaches are a place to get away from cars, noise, and fumes and to get in touch with the city’s spectacular natural side; these ATVs, simply put, ruin the park experience for users. I don’t come to the beach to smell exhaust and I certainly resent the noise pollution that these vehicles produce.

ATVs are bad policing, part 1: Simply put, officers cruising down the beach on ATVs travel too fast, and must pay too much attention to the driving, and therefore are less effective as patrollers; they’re (hopefully) looking where they’re going, not keeping their eyes peeled for crime or sketchy situations. Officers on foot can dedicate far more of their mental energy towards patrolling, rather than operating their vehicle.

ATVs are bad policing, part 2: These machines put a barrier between the police and the community; instead of a friendly officer strolling the beach, or cycling along the path, who looks like a human being and can make eye contact, the public sees an officer sitting high up on a quivering machine, wearing some kind of strange helmet that can prevent easy eye contact. All of a sudden, the officer isn’t like the public; it’s a slightly less intense version of the same logic that says that foot patrols are more community-friendly than in-vehicle patrols. Think about the public reaction with officers on foot, bicycle, or, particularly, horseback; these officers are far more approachable than their motorized counterparts.

On the other hand, I love the ATVs, because you can hear the officers coming a mile away and hide your booze on time, so maybe they’re a good idea after all. Of course, at a time when the City faces a $20m budget shortfall, it’d probably be cheaper (and greener) to just put bear bells on the officers’ uniforms instead.

Sincerely,

-D