For 19 years, it has been the go-to dry cleaning and laundry service for the Vancouver Police Department.
In that span of time, thousands of officers’ uniforms have passed through the doors and into the washing machines at Shirtland Drycleaners on Powell Street in the Downtown Eastside.
That service for the VPD will not be stopping any time soon.
The Vancouver Police Board unanimously approved Oct. 19 a five-year contract for Shirtland to continue cleaning police uniforms. The contract includes options for the company to be in business with the VPD for 10 more years.
That’s a lot of laundry detergent, when considering the department has more than 1,300 officers and is currently on a hiring spree, with the VPD’s current authorized strength at 1,448.
Shirtland’s contract is worth $831,549 per year.
Over 10 years, the contract could bring in a total of $9.2 million, subject to consumer price index changes, according to a police staff report that went before the board, which outlines the responsibility of Shirtland in handling the uniforms.
“The services must be provided in an efficient and cost-effective manner, with the security of uniforms as well as security and confidentiality of VPD member information as a critical component in vendor qualification and selection,” said the report, which notes Shirtland was in competition with two other bidders for the contract.
Blood, toxins, bedbugs
Deputy Chief Steve Rai told the board the cost for laundry would be much greater — $2 million per year — if each officer was given a stipend to search out their own service; the current process is officers deposit their uniforms in a bin at a station, where they are picked up by Shirtland and returned when cleaned.
Rai said the department doesn’t want officers having to transport uniforms that could be contaminated with blood, various toxins or bedbugs, saying “we don't expect our members to take those in their car, take them home and dry clean them at their neighbourhood dry cleaner.”
Kevin Sandhu, who bought Shirtland five years ago, was relieved to hear the news about the board’s decision, saying it allows him to keep his small business operating in times of rising costs and an unpredictable economy.
“I’m pretty happy,” he said, noting he employs a dozen people. “Being a small business, it kind of gives us stability. I can reward staff and train them better and get better equipment and all that sort of stuff that makes the business stronger.”
The pandemic, he said, was tough on the business, which also serves the general public.
“The scariest part was when there wasn’t anyone coming in,” he said, recalling how it wasn’t clear in the early days of the pandemic how COVID-19 was being transmitted from person to person.
“Is everything contaminated? We had no idea, right. But all my staff are such hard-working individuals and they hunkered down and came to work. I was blown away by their dedication.”
Firefighters, park rangers
Though the Vancouver police contract is the company’s biggest, Shirtland also has contracts with Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, Vancouver park rangers and Vancouver parking enforcement staff.
Other customers include the New Westminster police and fire departments and Transit Police.
The new Surrey Police Service also gives Shirtland some business.
“We like being able to do our little part to help these officers, firefighters and first responders,” he said, noting alterations and tailoring is also provided at Shirtland.
“They’ve got really tough careers and if there’s any little thing that we can do to help alleviate any sort of little stress, and make things a little easier for them, then we're ecstatic about doing that.”
60 uniforms per day
Sandhu said his staff will wash an average of 60 Vancouver police uniforms per day, with some days and weeks busier than others; the recent funeral for Ridge-Meadows RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien, for example, saw a higher demand by VPD officers to have their ceremonial dress uniforms cleaned.
Major calls or events and the type of daily work an officer does — a dog squad member versus an officer working in an office, for example — can influence how frequently uniforms need to be cleaned.
The weather is a major factor.
“Bad weather tends to bring us more business,” Sandhu said.
The reason the contract went before the police board is because any purchases of goods or services by the VPD that exceeds $2 million need board approval. The board provides financial oversight of the department, which is operating this year with a $373-million budget.
