Volunteers stepping up amid spike in Vancouver property crimes
Volunteers in Vancouver are stepping their efforts as the city continues to see a rise in property crimes.
On Saturday morning, members of the Hastings Sunrise Community Policing Centre could be seen laying down fresh coats of paint on large walls full of graffiti.
"In the past two years, we've noticed that the graffiti has increased quite a bit,” Sampson Hsieh told CTV News.
Hsieh is the head volunteer for the centre’s graffiti removal program, a program he says has been around for over 20 years, but is needed more now than ever.
"The graffiti program was originally just on Wednesdays, and we actually upped it to three days a week during its peak,” said Hsieh.
According to quarterly stats from the Vancouver Police Department, property crimes in District Two – which includes Hastings-Sunrise, Strathcona, Grandview-Woodland and the Downtown Eastside – were up 26.5 per cent compared to quarter one of last year.
City-wide, such crimes were up 25.4 per cent.
It's bad news for local businesses still trying to recover from the pandemic.
"Many of them struggled to survive, and now their revenues are being impacted by having to paint out graffiti, by having to replace windows, by having their products stolen,” said Patricia Barnes, executive director of the Hastings North Business Improvement Association.
While violent crime in the city was up just 1.5 per cent in quarter one, Barnes says the perception of downtown is keeping some customers away.
"The perception of safety is extremely important, if somebody does not believe they're going to be safe in an area, how willing are they going to be to go to that area?" said Barnes.
A community clean-up effort also took place Saturday in Vancouver’s West End.
The theme of the event was “Neighbours helping Neighbours,” with the goal to make the West End a better place to live.
"There are smaller groups that do their blocks or a couple blocks, I know some seniors who have adopted their block and they do it every week and they have been for years,” said Spencer Chandra-Herbert, MLA for Vancouver West End.
Next Saturday, June 4, the Hastings-Sunrise CPC Community Cleanup will be back out in action. Those interested in volunteering can visit the group's website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Her fiance has been in prison for 49 years. She's trying to free him before it’s too late
She was lying in bed on a Thursday morning, thinking about the man she loved, hoping to win his freedom before time ran out.