Vancouver police Chief Constable Jim Chu was forced to delay an announcement to cut crime on Monday after reporters peppered him with questions about a deadly weekend shooting.
Chief Const. Chu told a press conference that violent crime in Vancouver is very, very low "unless you're a gang member and live a risky lifestyle."
Two men were killed outside of Gotham's Steakhouse downtown Vancouver on Saturday night, in what police are calling a targeted, gangster-style shooting.
Chu had instead been planning to announce a strategic plan on Monday in a bid to tackle the 50 thousand cases of property crime that take place in the Lower Mainland each year.
"If you live in the city and talk to friends and neighbours, quite often you know somebody who's been a victim of property crime," the chief said. "You walk on downtown streets and you can see window glass from cars."
Vancouver is considered to have the worst property crime rates in any metropolitan area in Canada.
"(Broken glass is) not an infrequent sight in this city. So we want to reduce that and one of the areas we're doing it in is focusing on chronic offenders."
Chu said police want to cut property crime by 20 per cent -- and violent crime by ten per cent -- by the year 2012.
The plan notes a large part of stolen property in Vancouver is converted into cash to buy drugs. In 2005, property crime cost citizens and businesses approximately $125 million.
"The people of the city are plagued with this problem," he said. "We will not tolerate these crime levels and don't believe that anyone should have to live in a city with the real and constant fear of their homes and cars being broken into."
The Vancouver police force recently announced it was also considering a fundraising program to send back out-of-province criminals who have outstanding warrants in other provinces.
With files from The Canadian Press
