Vancouver’s mayor frustrated with public safety situation after recent violent incidents
Posted December 5, 2024 6:05 pm.
Last Updated December 9, 2024 11:17 am.
Vancouver’s mayor says he’s frustrated with the public safety situation in the city after several high-profile violent incidents.
Last week, a 28-year-old victim was walking alone outside Hudson’s Bay on West Georgia Street downtown when he was hit in the face by a stranger.
On Wednesday, two people were injured and a man suspected of a stabbing downtown was shot dead by police.
Mayor Ken Sim is calling on the provincial and federal governments to “do more,” saying there’s only so much that can be done about violent incidents on a municipal level.
Sim says he understands the anxiety Vancouverites feel when they hear about incidents like the stabbing Wednesday because he feels the same way.
He says the stats show the problem is actually declining, even if it doesn’t feel that way.
“Random stranger assaults, for example, are down over 50 per cent in the city of Vancouver. But it’s of cold comfort when you have these incidents that just hit us to the core,” said Sim.
He says the city is making good on his election promise to hire 100 police officers and 100 mental-health workers, adding that only goes so far in solving the root problem of violence.
“We’re really great at reacting to an incident. When these terrible, terrible incidents happen, we can react. And we’re apprehending these suspects.”
Sim says the province is moving in the right direction in terms of mental health programs and he wants to see that expanded and put in action.
The province has committed to 400 beds for mental health patients, but Sim says we need something in the range of 3,000.
B.C.’s minister of public safety and solicitor general, Garry Begg, says the Wednesday incident is “very concerning.”
“As Vancouver gets ready to host three Taylor Swift concerts and other events this weekend, I want to assure residents and visitors that the City of Vancouver has been diligently preparing for these events, with 700 police officers being deployed from all over the province to ensure the safety and security of everyone,” said Begg in a statement Thursday.
