Vancouver Police step up patrols in the Downtown Eastside amid recent gun violence – BC | Globalnews.ca

Vancouver Police say they are temporarily increasing the number of officers in the Downtown Eastside after nearly a week of gun violence that’s left people shaken up.

Thursday morning, a 24-year-old man was shot while riding his bike near East Hastings and Carrall Streets.

The man was able to make it back home to an SRO hotel before calling 9-1-1, according to Sgt. Steve Addison.

“Nobody should put up with this level of violence and lack of safety in their neighborhoods. And what we’ve seen in the last number of days certainly increases our concern for people’s safety in that neighborhood, which does include a significant number of marginalized and vulnerable people,” Addison said while speaking to reporters Thursday.

VPD officers say they recovered 14 real and replica firearms in the neighbourhood over the last 4 days, some of which led to arrests.

“We received a 9-1-1 call from a woman who had been pepper sprayed in front of the Carnegie Community Center on Sunday morning, we were able to track a suspect to a couple of tents in the areas of Patricia Hotel. We recovered a shotgun and two men were arrested in that case,” Addison said.

Also on Sunday, a man was arrested after a daylight shooting which left a 31-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds.

“We also have our investigators, organized crime investigators working behind the scenes to better understand what has led to so many guns in the neighbourhood during the last number of days. We’re not sure at this point whether or not this ia a blip on the radar or if there’s something bigger that’s happening. We need to look into that a little bit more to get a better grasp on that,” Addison explained.

This rapid response force will provide additional patrols to the Downtown Eastside, Chinatown and Gastown.

Retired Police Detective Doug Spencer says this uptick in crime is expected in an overcrowded tent city.

“Its a complete circus, these people are heavily addicted to drugs, they’re suffering from mental health, its nothing for them to pick up a firearm and protect themselves from one another not to mention the gang members fighting over the drug turf down there,” Spencer told Global News.

Homeless advocates like Anna Cooper with Pivot Legal Society renewed calls for less police presence and more adequate housing.

“The right to adequate housing is not an SRO without basic services. It’s not a shelter bed, and it’s not a supportive housing building where your basic tenancy rights are violated as part of your housing model,” Cooper told reporters on Thursday.

Stuck in the middle are local businesses who say they are concerned about this uptick in violent crime in the neighbourhood.

“It’s been extremely nerve-racking and scary, and our staff don’t exactly feel safe leaving or coming to work anymore,” said Bradley Spence, CEO of eevee’s electric vehicles.

“It seems to be getting worse and doesn’t seem to be getting any better anytime soon. It’s just been getting progressively worse. That’s why I said the other day I’m not sure even sure if we’ll renew our lease at this point.”

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