Unprovoked stranger assaults declining in Vancouver, police say
Posted November 23, 2023 9:58 pm.
A new report from Vancouver police suggests that unprovoked stranger assaults are steadily declining in the city.
The report, which was presented to the Vancouver Police Board Thursday, looked at random sample data from the last three years.
While the exact numbers have not been released, the report attributes the decline to the return of pre-pandemic routines and increased guardianship within public spaces.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was less pedestrian traffic and fewer guardians or bystanders, which can contribute to increased opportunities for violence,” the report says. “This was further exacerbated by mental health pressures triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes resulting in violent interactions between strangers.”
According to the report, unprovoked stranger assaults are those assaults where “no pre-existing relationship exists and the interaction prior to the assault between the suspect and victim was brief in nature (i.e. less than 15-20 seconds).”
The report also found that in the first nine months of 2023, there were approximately 4,700 violent crimes reported to police, which is around the same number reported over the same period last year.
