COVID may be contributing to Vancouver’s rise in ‘random robberies’: experts

Article content

VANCOUVER – An increase in random assaults highlighted by Vancouver police could point to bigger problems that the pandemic could magnify, experts say.

Article content

Vancouver police said in a series of social media posts last week that there were 1,555 “unprovoked assaults by strangers” involving 1,705 reported victims between Sept. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31 this year.

“Most of the victims were just doing their day: running errands, walking or visiting our city,” read a post.

Const. Tania Visintin said that an assault is defined as random when there is no relationship between the victim and the suspect, and no event led to the attack.

“Which means there was no verbal communication or physical interaction,” he said. “It is completely random. Unexpectedly.”

Police began to notice the increase when officers compared notes at morning meetings to discuss the evening events, Visintin said.

Article content

“We need to collect this data,” he said. “And that way we know how we can use our resources to make the city safe.”

Experts say there could be a variety of reasons for the increase in random attacks, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Colton Fehr, an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University’s school of criminology, said COVID-19 has put “many different and significant pressures” on people.

“And it’s understandable, I think, that more emotion comes to the surface and in those kinds of circumstances we could see more irrational kinds of actions, like assault,” Fehr said.

“That could be a speculative consideration.”

Statistics Canada said in a report published in July that while there were “fairly widespread declines in many types of crime” in 2020, the country saw increases in “rates of various criminal harassment and threat behaviors” compared to 2019. Threats , criminal harassment, and indecent or harassing communications.

Article content

Statistics for three other major Canadian cities show different trends in the number of robberies, although none of them have tracked random or unprovoked attacks.

Toronto reported 17,323 assaults in 2019, down to 15,203 last year. So far this year, 15,737 robberies have been reported in the city.

Edmonton police spokeswoman Cheryl Voordenhout said the city has seen a three percent increase in assaults in downtown this year compared to the same period in 2020. But the number of assaults throughout the city declined by about four percent during the same period. period.

Edmonton police reported a seven percent increase in “mental health related occurrences” in the city center and a two percent increase citywide during the same period last year compared to 2021, added.

Article content

Earlier this month, Police Chief Dale McFee addressed what has been happening downtown, saying police are working with the provincial department responsible for mental health and addictions.

“We need some support and some investments in some of these spaces,” he said.

Const. John MacLeod of the Halifax Regional Police said the city suffered 2,371 assaults in 2019, 2,379 last year and 1,906 this year.

“As you can see, the number of reports varies from month to month and year to year due to many factors and as such we could not talk about specific trends,” he said in an email.

Vancouver police released examples of the type of unprovoked assaults that officers have investigated.

In one case, a woman was walking with her elderly father when a girl who appeared to be around 12 years old punched her in the nose. The suspect has not yet been identified, the police department said on social media.

Article content

In another, a man was running errands when someone approached him from behind and slit his throat, police said. Witnesses aided the man, who had “significant injuries,” police said. A suspect was arrested and charged.

Fehr said mental health conditions could worsen during the pandemic.

“So really, those who might otherwise be treated, or who could cope with their conditions, are under much more stress in the context of a global pandemic,” he said.

“And one of the things that could happen, depending on the nature of one’s mental illness, is that they might do something that we would otherwise think is irrational, like these kinds of random assaults.”

Robert Gordon, a professor at the Simon Fraser University School of Criminology, said the assaults could be the result of a combination of different factors, including drug addiction, homelessness or mental health problems.

Article content

“It is a cocktail that is quite toxic and not one that we should be surprised by. And I think it took the COVID situation to bring it to a critical point a bit, because people are scared. Part of that fear increases, amplifies the problem of random attacks on the street. “

Visintin said that while COVID-19 could be a contributing factor, there is a bigger picture that includes mental illness and drug addiction. Vancouver Police intend to continue collecting data.

Fehr said the information is important because a lot can be learned from the numbers, and not just in Vancouver, but also by comparing it to other jurisdictions.

“This type of data is very valuable in learning how to better govern in times that are similar to emergencies,” he said. “There is a lot to be gained from collecting this data.”