VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Vancouver's Rape Relief and Women's Shelter is slamming the VPD's report into the Robert Pickton murders, saying apologies and hindsight aren't good enough. It's renewing a demand for a public inquiry into the Downtown Eastside's missing women.
The group's Lee Lakeman accuses Vancouver Police of having a systemic bias against women and Aboriginals. She says a public inquiry, encouraged by all levels of government, is the only way to get the ball rolling on policy changes in the criminal justice system and getting rid of prejudice in prostitution laws.
Lakeman feels last week's apology by the VPD isn't going to fix anything. "There are still men driving into the Downtown Eastside and now driving up and down Kingsway, picking up women and they are being ignored by the police at this hour."
She argues an internal police investigation has barely scratched the surface in learning what really went wrong on the Downtown Eastside.