 Through its president and spokesperson, Tom Stamatakis, the union acts as a political lobby on behalf of its membership, and has taken a strong position on issues such as the Insite safe injection site in Vancouver, calling it an "unmitigated disaster" for the Downtown Eastside and claiming that all it has accomplished is the creation of a "sense of entitlement" for the neighbourhood's drug addicted population.The union has also questioned the credibility of Sam Sullivan in his capacity as chair of the police board.Critics of the Vancouver Police have been publicly denounced by the union, particularly lawyers Phil Rankin, Cameron Ward, and John Richardson of the Pivot Legal Society.