A significant increase in gun violence is prompting the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) to temporarily increase police presence in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.
The decision was made following this morning's (Feb. 23) shooting which took place around 5 a.m. near East Hastings and Carrall streets. A man was shot in the leg and injured while riding a bike. He was able to make his way home before calling 911.
VPD spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison says that initial indications are that the incident may have been an attempted robbery.
Another incident occurred earlier this week when a man was shot repeatedly on Sunday (Feb. 19).
"Those two shootings, combined with a number of other incidents, particularly guns that we've we've encountered in the neighbourhood over the last couple of days, are extremely concerning," said Addison at a press conference. "We're hoping that temporarily redeploying additional officers will have a positive impact by tamping down on some of the violence, the guns and disorder in the area."
Effective immediately, VPD is deploying additional officers to the Downtown Eastside and the surrounding neighbourhoods, particularly in Chinatown and Gastown.
The extra officers are part of a currently existing rapid-response team that deploys every day, according to Addison. However, for the time being, they will be deployed in the Downtown Eastside.
"We also have our organized crime investigators working behind the scenes to try to better understand what has led to so many guns in the neighbourhood during the last number of days," said Addison, adding that he can't predict how temporary the increased police presence will be.
Police recovered 14 guns over the last four days, including both real (and loaded) firearms and replica guns. Five of the guns seized were real firearms.
The majority of the guns were seized yesterday (Feb. 22) from an SRO hotel in the Downtown Eastside along with other weapons.
"I've never seen this number of guns in such a short period of time from the Downtown Eastside," said Addison. "We often see people with real guns or real weapons, makeshift weapons, things like knives, machetes, brass knuckles, bear spray. But to see this number of guns, both real and fake, in such a short period of time is something I've never seen in my career."
When asked by V.I.A. how the VPD will approach an area with a high population of individuals from marginalized communities and many people struggling with mental health issues while unhoused, who may be sensitive to police presence, Addison said safety is the priority.
"[The VPD is] doing this because people deserve to feel safe, regardless of their socio-economic status, regardless of their lot in life. People deserve to feel safe. Our only goal here is to root out people who are breaking the law or who are committing criminal acts, and people are bringing dangerous weapons into that neighbourhood."
