Administrative forfeiture focused in lower-income neighbourhoods
Total number of administrative forfeitures in Metro Vancouver census tracts from 2016-2021.
A Postmedia analysis of five years of administrative forfeiture data highlighted how the controversial policing practice is concentrated in some of Metro’s lowest-income neighbourhoods.Scroll for more...
Residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside experienced the most forfeitures of any Metro Vancouver neighbourhood. The VPD seized people’s assests at least three times more often than any Metro police force except Surrey’s RCMP.
In Surrey, forfeitures are mostly concentrated around Whalley, the city’s lowest-income neighbourhood. Surrey RCMP are the second heaviest users of administrative forfeiture in Metro Vancouver.
Further east in Langley, seizures were concentrated in neighbourhoods with a median income below $50,000 per year. Langley RCMP were among the top users of administrative forfeiture in the province.
The international airport and neighbouring Brighouse were among the few areas in Richmond where forfeitures reached double digits. The Brighouse neighbourhood had one of Richmond’s lowest median incomes in 2016.