Vancouver police launch community safety pop-ups following recent stranger attacks

The VPD initiative launched Friday with three officers and five community policing volunteers fielding questions from concerned residents

Published Sep 13, 2024  •  3 minute read

Jim Deva Plaza in Vancouver's West End on Friday. sun

In the wake of a recent spate of grisly stranger attacks downtown, Vancouver police are increasing officer visibility with a series of pop-up public safety events in various neighbourhoods.

The community safety initiative launched Friday with three officers and five community policing volunteers fielding questions from concerned residents at Jim Deva Plaza in the West End. Some residents were offered personal alarm devices, high-visibility wristbands, and informational pamphlets.

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Retiree John Boer refused to take any of the policing group’s handouts, expressing anger with how unsafe he now feels in his community of 23 years.

“My wife and I don’t come out here at night anymore,” said the 86-year-old, who lives less than a block away on Bute Street. He said his apartment building has faced repeated break-ins and the public plaza has been overrun with people smoking drugs and uttering verbal disturbances.

“We used to love sitting outside in the evenings, but it’s lost all of its enjoyment. I used to have compassion for these sorts of people, but now, no more.”

Two weeks ago, a 34-year-old with a long and violent rap sheet, Brendan Colin McBride, allegedly stabbed two strangers near the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. One of the victims, 70 years old, died from his injuries, and the other, 56, had his hand severed.

In the wake of the killing, Vancouver Deputy Police Chief Howard Chow said the pop-up events seek to engage and educate residents on how to keep themselves and their communities safe. Pamphlets handed to passersby contained advice such as: “Use well-lit streets. Stay in the middle of the sidewalk. Avoid alleyways.”

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“We’ve done this in the past and we thought it was very important we do this again, given recent events of very high-profile violent events that have got the community on edge,” he said about Friday’s event.

Jim Deva Plaza in Vancouver’s West End. Photo: Sarah Grochowski sun

Chow assured the public that reports of unprovoked stranger attacks in Vancouver have reduced by close to half since the COVID pandemic. However, he admitted that during that same timespan, fewer members of the public have been reporting crimes to police.

“Call it apathy, call it frustration, call it just giving up — it’s important that we know about crimes, so we know how to redirect our resources.”

The deputy chief said a coordinated approach to mental health, one that includes action from senior levels of government, is needed to reduce stranger assaults in the city.

“We know that the vast majority of individuals suffering from mental illness or drug addiction issues are valuable contributing people in the community. We’re talking about a small percentage that needs more help. It’s not humane to leave them out there fending for themselves … when somebody is in crisis at 2 a.m., the accessibility and availability has to be there.”

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Chow added that the Vancouver Police Department is pushing Crown counsel to enforce harsher penalties on those who are convicted of unprovoked assaults.

Vanessa Karikas, a community health outreach worker who has lived in the West End for several years, says she doesn’t feel any less safe since the pair of stranger stabbings.

“I think a lot of what is going on is displacement. For residents who are afraid, it is because they are seeing new people in their neighbourhood who have just lost their homes and don’t feel safe in shelters,” said Karikas.

“It all comes back to mental health and people who are falling through cracks in the system, who end up homeless in new parts of the city.”

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