from what i have heard, they are indeed focusing on micros again. from what i gather, they enter the premises in a "bust" strategy. anyone found there could be charged and if not charged then deported for working in canada illegally.
i went recently as a delegation to the police board and presented some plans for sex industry stabilization in vancouver part of which includes making materials language accessible for foreign workers and also to develope a strategy in partnership with immigration canada that makes these migrant workers legal while working in canada and allows them to qualify for rights and supports if they need them. they shouldn't have to fear deportation for calling police. also, GAATW reports state that some workers are executed or jailed upon arrival in their home countries. as canadians i don't think we should just be arbitrarily deporting these workers back to face who know what. we have a responsibility to ensure they will be safe.
another problem is that there is not 1 common strategy being employed by all the different municipalities in the lower mainland and it's a whole bunch of different police forces. eventually it would be nice to see an intergrated sex industry strategy team, like with the homicide divisions IHIT. that way we could try to make sure that workers in vancouver and surrounding areas benefit form any reforms/new strategies being employed.
i know it seems like it is taking forever to see anything move forward and i am as frustrated as anyone. the fact that they are still raiding even after everything they have heard and learned from us about the impacts of having nowhere to work is the hardest of all.
another problem is that police officers are rotated out(to prevent corruption) every 3 years or so . this means we have to re educate a new officer/ officers and we also have to hope that they are even interested in working with us towards safety.
we are trying though, please feel free to pm me any questions, suggestions or concerns.
love susie