The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said violence and street crime have dropped in the city’s Downtown Eastside since a police task force was set up three months ago.
Dubbed the Task Force Barrage, the team has been focusing on Gastown, Chinatown, and Hastings Street, according to VPD. Officers patrolling the the area maintain high visibility and are able to quickly deal with violence in the neighbourhoods, it said.
The police department has released its numbers for violence and property crimes in the area between Feb. 13 and May 13.
VPD says the data shows violence and most property crime have trended lower in the Downtown Eastside and surrounding neighbourhoods of Gastown, Chintatown, and Strathcona compared to 2024.
Violent crime has dropped 13 percent on the Downtown Eastside and Gastown, 26 percent in Chinatown, and 14 percent in Strathcona, VPD said.
“We created Task Force Barrage to target criminals and predators who have made the Downtown Eastside dangerous for people who live there,” said Inspector Gary Hiar, the commanding officer of Task Force Barrage.
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“While we’re making life harder for violent offenders and organized criminals, we’re also working with the community to improve safety and build relationships.”
However, Hiar said there was “still a long road ahead.”
Other information released by the VPD show that serious assaults have decreased by 13 percent in the Downtown Eastside, 17 percent in Chinatown and Gastown, and 20 percent in Strathcona.
Robberies are down 35 percent on the Downtown Eastside, 57 percent in Chinatown, and 9 percent in Strathcona, according to the VPD. There was no change in Gastown.
The number of business break and enters has fallen by 42 percent in the Downtown Eastside, 47 percent in Gastown, 86 percent in Chinatown, and 67 percent in Strathcona.
Meanwhile, residential break and enters are down 38 percent on the Downtown Eastside, and 25 percent in Chinatown.
However, the number of break and enters into homes in Strathcona has gone up 43 percent. There was no change recorded in Gastown.
Since the task force started its work, it has seized 745 weapons, as well as 65 replica guns and 14 real ones. It has also made 414 warrant arrests, which works out to about five each day.
One of those arrests was of a 31-year-old Zone 43 gang member who was wanted in Ontario for drug and firearm charges.
Zone 43 is a gang originally from Quebec but has some members that have started operations in Vancouver, VPD has said.
The suspect, Christopher Cineus, was convicted in Ontario in 2022 on 10 different charges but had fled before sentencing, VPD said.
Police said he was arrested on April 30 and has been sent back to Ontario.
