Dave, a homeless man asks for handouts on the corner of Burrard St. and West Georgia St. in Vancouver January 4, 2011.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
Her powerful flashlight cuts through the pre-dawn darkness in Stanley Park as Constable Jodyne Keller makes her lonely rounds. Unlike most of her police colleagues, however, she's not gunning for criminals.
Constable Keller is searching out the homeless, those with no roof to call their own who use the city's prime tourist attraction as a chilly, outdoor bedroom.
After two years as the Vancouver Police Department's first homeless outreach co-ordinator, she knows where to look.
"Anything you need?" Constable Keller asks a stretched-out form on a park bench, huddled under a pile of blankets. "Gloves or juice, or anything?" There is no reply.
At a crude, tarpaulin shelter nearby, Constable Keller peeks inside. "Just wanted to check on you. You doing okay?"
This time, there's a muffled response: "I'm doing fine, thanks."
"Awesome," says the constable.
The scenes played out in a short police video released on Tuesday highlighting Constable Keller's work and demonstrating that the long arm of the law can have a compassionate reach.
In the midst of the city's current cold snap, with overnight snow predicted, Constable Keller said that she is taking pains to remind others in the department to do their part, too.
"I remind our patrol officers where the blankets are, and where the emergency shelters are," she told reporters.
"We do this because our purpose is to serve our community, and that includes someone sleeping on the street, just as much as someone in a penthouse."
Her goal, she said, is to make a human connection with the homeless, ensure they are as healthy and warm as possible, and then, if they are willing, assist them in the often unwieldy process of securing welfare and housing.
During the cold winter months, when hundreds continue to sleep outside despite a large increase in emergency shelter spaces, Constable Keller is kept particularly busy handing out blankets and warm socks.
"They walk around all day, and it's freezing. Some of them aren't wearing socks of any sort," she said. "So socks are number one. Socks are huge."
It's a new, outreach approach to policing that attracted Constable Keller after years of seeing the same people and the same problems as she patrolled the flophouses, dingy rooming hotels and mean streets of the Downtown Eastside.
"I was always there for criminal activity, but I found myself thinking, there's got to be something better we can do," she said. "And what we have found is that, when they are given someone who cares, these people often do take steps, they do get housing. Some of the changes we see are amazing."
The program was launched about the same time as the high-profile death of a homeless person in a fire started by a candle at her outside shelter.
Spokeswoman Jan McGuinness said the VPD takes homelessness very seriously. "We don't think anyone should have to sleep out in the cold. ... Our officers come into contact with homeless people in need every day, on every shift, so it only makes sense that we do more to help out."
Doug King of the PIVOT legal society, often critical of VPD policing in the Downtown Eastside, said the police outreach program is a step in the right direction.
"There are still gaps, more housing is needed, and Jodyne Keller's approach is not necessarily the position of cops on patrol, but it's still a positive thing," said Mr. King.
A homeless count last March indicated more than 1,700 people were living on the street in Vancouver, up from about 1,500 the previous year.
Constable Keller said the most important thing about the homeless is to remember they are human beings, and that's a message for everyone.
"If you see them, look them in the eye. Say 'Hello.' They will remember you. You restore their dignity."