CRIME OVERALL IS DOWN IN THE WEST END
Davie Business Owner Believes More Action Needed

by John Streit
(click on images to enlarge)

We’ve all seen this happen, and it can be a disconcerting and stressful feeling. A police car, flying down Davie Street towards English Bay, with lights and sirens going. Then a second. And a third. And a fourth. Then an ambulance.

So how safe do you feel in the West End? It’s a question we often ask each other in one of the most densely packed neighbourhoods in North America, which swells on warm and sunny weekends with beach and park goers.

The latest crime statistics from the Vancouver Police Department are showing a generally positive trend in the West End. Overall, all crimes are down 14.8 percent in the past eight weeks compared to the same time last year, at 453, including no homicides or deaths involving vehicles.

Offences against a person, like assault causing bodily harm, are down almost 30 percent to 54.

Mischief offences, when you deliberately destroy or damage someone’s property, are down 32.4 percent from last year.

The West End is seeing positive statistics when it comes to residential break and enters as well, according to the VPD. B&Es are down a whopping 71.4 percent from last year.

However, if you see a piece of plywood covering a broken window of your favourite West End shop or restaurant, crime is often the reason why. Commercial break and enters are up 5.9 percent, 18 over the past eight weeks.

**REFUSE LEFT IN FRONT OF CELEBRITIES ON DAVIE.** *(JOHN CLERIDES PHOTO)*

If you park outside or have an easily accessible garage, a heads-up that vehicles continue to be targeted by thieves in our neighbourhood. Theft from vehicles has jumped 8.5 percent over last year to 89. Hot spots include upper Robson and Alberni Streets.

Six West Enders unfortunately had their vehicles stolen over the past two months. That’s up 200 percent over last year.

Bike thefts continue their torrid pace in the West End, with 26 stolen over the past eight weeks, a more than 73 percent increase over the same period last year. Burrard Street near the bridge and Beach Avenue near Denman Street appear to be two hotspots for these particular thefts, according to the VPD’s Crime Map.

What the Vancouver Police call “other thefts,” like retail, are down almost 23 percent from last year, at 135. Robson, Denman and Davie Streets, with their concentrations of stores, continue to be the hotspots for this type of crime. The West End Journal recently witnessed a suspected crime in progress on Davie Street. A man walked out of a popular market closely followed by store security. He was confronted and eventually returned thousands of dollars’ worth of smoking cessation products.

John Clerides is owner of Marquis Wine Cellars on Davie. He says the area around his business is a mess.

**john clerides of marquis Wine Cellars.** *(coastal Front Image)*

“Our alley is always crawling with drug addicts and I am constantly cleaning up graffiti. Jim Deva Plaza is a joke, with homeless people everywhere. The City of Vancouver and their planners are a joke. They have created a refuge and haven for them at the plaza. The Esso gas station at Burrard is hub central. The streets are not clean or safe.”

The West End Journal asked Clerides the response he gets when he calls Vancouver Police about a problem at Marquis Wine Cellars. “The police are good. They are on it. But it’s just a wack-a-mole game.”

He’s part of a group of community and business leaders called the Save Our Streets Coalition (SOS), which has gotten support from Mayor Ken Sim. Part of the coalition’s mantra is “calling on governments to implement innovative, aggressive and comprehensive solutions now.” Personally, Clerides believes involuntary treatment is part of the answer but on a larger scale than what the province is doing now. “We need Riverview Hospital reopened. We need Alberta-like recovery centres. Safe supply shut down. Long jail time for bad actors or go to rehab.”

Between 2020 and 2024 about 543 people died per year in Vancouver, on average, due to unregulated toxic drugs, according to the BC Coroners Service.

Crime in the West End has decreased far more than in Vancouver overall. According to a recent report submitted to the Vancouver Police Board, total crime across the city is down about one per cent for the first three months of the year.

Violent crime declined by 11 percent over that period – the lowest number since the implementation of the current police system of crime-related record keeping (Police Records Management System or PRIME) in 2002. Police say this decrease is driven by record low quarterly assaults and robberies.

Sexual offences increased by 7.1 percent with 180 incidents reported this year compared to 168 last year. This may be far from the true number. A recent independent systemic review of BC’s legal system’s treatment of intimate partner violence and sexual violence found 94 per cent of sexual assaults are not reported to police.

After a spike during the pandemic, the VPD says property crime is continuing to drop, this time by another four percent.

Mental Health Act calls are up seven percent to 1,050 for the first three months of the year. According to the MHA, “a police officer or constable may apprehend and immediately take a person to a physician or nurse practitioner for examination if satisfied from personal observations, or information received, that the person is acting in a manner likely to endanger that person’s own safety or the safety of others and is apparently a person with a mental disorder.” People can be involuntarily admitted to treatment for up to 48 hours in B.C.

Calls for police service increased by 2.4 percent to almost 57,000. Assaults on police officers increased 28 percent from 25 to 32, year over year.

Police say it will take them an average of 10 minutes to get to you for a 911 call emergency.

Clerides at Marquis Wine Cellars is looking for fast action on Davie Street, not lip service.

“The city is quick to put in a bike lane, a shy dog park, and make baseless announcements. But keeping the street clean? Not a chance.”

West Ender John Streit has been a B.C. radio, TV and online journalist
for more than 25 years. You can listen to John anchor
Global News on 730 CKNW in Vancouver on Monday to Friday mornings.