Vancouver Pollice Department concluded that four or more people are the victims of violent, unprovoked attacks every day in the city of Vancouver.
Vancouver Police Department and City Council respond to the danger
By Matthew Fraser, Editor in Chief
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has announced an unsettling number of random and unprovoked attacks over the past year. In the timeframe between September 1, 2020, and August 31, 2021, the VPD received reports of over 1,500 random attacks. These attacks were unearthed after the findings of a recent review were reported.
In a tweet thread beginning on October 20, VPD outlined some of the findings in this review. One conclusion was that four or more people are the victims of violent, unprovoked attacks every day in the city of Vancouver. The tweet thread explained that the victim and assailant must not have known each other previously, the altercation must have lasted less than 15 seconds and that the situation could not have reasonably led to the assault.
In a statement to CBC, Constable Tania Visintin noted that the review was prompted by officers noticing an unusual pattern of attacks that seemed unprompted and where the victim did not know their assailant. Visintin also revealed that almost one-third of the suspects identified thus far suffered from mental illnesses and roughly one-quarter of the victims in these attacks identified as female.
These attacks are matched by an increasing sense of danger in communities. CTV News reports that complaints to VPD and City Council were heard and that City Councillor Melissa DeGenova responded by putting forward a public safety motion. DeGenova would also take to Twitter, publishing a tweet saying: āPeople donāt feel safe in our city #PublicSafety wonāt be fixed overnight but tonight #Vancouver City Council took a step in the right direction. Looking forward to staff working w/ community & small businesses and reporting back by end of the year on my motion [hand emoji] #VanPoli.ā The tweet included what appeared to be two screenshots; one of the voting results of the motion, and the other a portion of the motion itself.
