Visual and narrative representations of mental health and addiction by law enforcement

Supportive housing and surveillance

“…Such strategies of intervention are evidenced in urban spaces where the visibility of addiction, mental health and homelessness has been reduced with an increase of ‘spaces of care’ such as the provision of emergency shelters, some supportive housing, and other means of ‘re-institutionalization and circulation’ compatible with the comfort, containment and control of potentially disruptive populations (Conradson 2003; DeVerteuil, 2003; 2009; Johnsen, Cloke & May, 2005). Indeed, such dynamics, including the pairing of medical and enforcement-based approaches, have increasingly been in play in Vancouver, Canada, which is home to a large population of urban poor individuals contending with mental health and addictions (Boyd & Kerr, 2015; Boyd, Boyd & Kerr, 2015). …”

“…The neighbourhood includes a large open drug scene where a range of illicit drugs can be easily purchased (Wood & Kerr, 2006), and is often equated by the media, the Vancouver Police Department and claims-makers as a space riddled with social problems. As such, it is constituted as a criminal and pathological space (Boyd et al, 2015; Culhane, 2003; Liu & Blomley, 2013; Woolford, 2001). This construction informs housing policy and the regulation of marginalized people in the area.…”

Law enforcement disconnect from the community

“…The discussion of urban neighborhoods are "filtered … creating a conceptual place of dangerousness, deprivation, and contagion, that complements media depictions of the neighbourhood and the people who live there (marked as … dangerous), which serves to substantiate a need for policing solutions/interventions …" (Boyd et al, 2015). However, the meaning and language used to describe a place are multifaceted and disputed depending upon who defines the space.…”

“…Law enforcement previously controlled the dialog and the stories about urban spaces, crime, drugs, policing, and incidents (Boyd et al, 2015). Law enforcement defined the meanings of each incident in the way they labeled the participants: perpetrator (the deviant), victim (the aggrieved citizen), and neutral arbitrator (the officer).…”

“…Language produces meaning and a reality. "… if you call for more police presence to regulate criminalized drugs … you understand the 'problem' as primarily a 'law and order issue'" (Boyd, Boyd, & Kerr, 2015). But if you call for more police presence to assist with getting drug abusers into treatment programs, you understand "the problem" as primarily a "mental health issue" (Boyd et al, 2015).…”