news // no. 4

Homicides in Vancouver often pose no threat to the public

» BC citizens believe in rising crime regardless of contradictory data

Janis McMath Editor-in-Chief

ancouver has seen multiple culpable

homicides in the past few months. (Culpable homicide is defined by the Government of Canada’s website as wilful actions that result in someone’s death.) September saw three and October saw one. The VPD reports that October’s most recent murder was the 15th this year. Comparing this data to previous years’ shows that the homicide rate is steady. For comparison, 2015 had 16 murders; 2016 had 12; 2017 had 19; 2018 had 15; and 2019 had 10.

Large Halloween gatherings defended by the public opinion

» Citizens offer perspectives on Granville Street partiers during COVID

CJ Sommerfeld Staff Writer

undreds of partygoers swarmed the

Granville Street strip on Halloween evening. These actions went against suggestions from Dr. Bonnie Henry, who urged Canadians to avoid large crowds on this night. While media outposts following this night labeled these Halloween-celebrators as irresponsible and selfish, the public instead defends fellow- Vancouverites by saying that perspectives regarding virus transmission are changing.

In an online chat with the Other Press, Bijan—a long-time Vancouver resident—offers a reason for the seemingly incautious partiers. He tells us that what occurred on October 31 “is indicative of the changing opinion around the disease.” He explains by saying that people are intensely weighing the prospect of getting sick against the negative side effects associated with loneliness and depression. He concludes that gathering to party during a pandemic can be labelled irresponsible when regarding it solely from a COVID-transmission stance, however,

Near Kitsilano Beach, a recycling bin was found with humans remains on October 18. They were later identified as Douglas Wanke, a 57-year-old resident of the city. At this point, not much else is known but it has been ruled a homicide and is being investigated as such. Vancouver police ask property managers and residents to call 604-717-2500 to report any missing big, blue, and wheeled recycling bins.

In September, the three homicides that occurred all did so in one night. Two of the homicides that evening were related; officers found two people unresponsive in a room of the Astoria

the argument for celebrating is sound when considered through a mental health lens.

Mary Menthol (whose name was changed at their request), a teacher at Douglas College, has a similar stance. However, she worries for those within these partier’s bubbles. When speaking with the Other Press, she agrees that “people are feeling cooped up and frustrated, and this is the result.” And while she offers justification for the Granville Street Halloween celebrators, she expresses her concern about the consequences which these actions may cause. “[The partiers] will now be bringing whatever exposure they had in that crowd back into their bubbles.”

When comparing the restrictions that have taken place in the Vancouver area with those in other parts of the world, Lower Mainlanders have been granted more freedoms than others. It was only last week that certain Ontario hotspots reopened gyms and theatres; however, the social distancing guidelines within these places has increased to three meters. Ireland’s wet bars only opened on September 21, after being closed since

Photo by Arnaldo Fragozo

hotel on East Hastings Street—one was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was pronounced at the hospital they were taken to. Within half-an-hour of the first homicide-related call came another; 23-year-old Iqubal Grewal was found dead in front of a house on East 64th Avenue and Knight Street in South Vancouver. The emergency centre received multiple calls in regard to the shots fired in the neighbourhood—one caller from the neighbourhood who spoke to Global News claims to have heard up to eight gunshots. Richmond RCMP later found a burned-up vehicle in a field near Kartner Road and Westminster Highway that

has been confirmed to be connected to the shotting of Grewal. For all three of these homicides, the police have released a statement stating they do not believe there is a risk to the public.

A lack of risk to the public is a common trend for the homicides seen in Vancouver—many of the recent incidents have been planned and targeted killings that pose no risk to the population at a whole. As mentioned before, Vancouver has seen 15 culpable homicides in 2020. Of those 15, police have made statements on u1 of them as cases that are of no risk to the public. The remaining four cases have been two cases of manslaughter—which is defined as homicides committed without intent of causing death but may have had intent of causing great bodily harm— and one case of second-degree murder, which is defined as an intentional killing

March. The Spanish province of Catalonia was in complete lockdown twice. They recently introduced new restrictions that prohibit travel in or out of the province; cafés, bars, and restaurants are closed for dine- in, and all cultural activities are completely suspended. And

in Mexico, face masks (cubre bocas) were mandated in March to be worn in all public and semi-public places—including one’s own car. This mandate

is still enforced in twenty-

four of the country’s states. Currently, Vancouverites are not experiencing any of these restrictions, however new lockdown orders have recently been put into place asking residents to stay at home and isolated

for the next two weeks until Nov 23. On October 21, the European Union removed Canadians from their list of approved travellers allowed to enter due to the rise in cases within our country.

theotherpress.ca

without any premeditated actions. The 15th homicide case is yet to be determined, but still, the majority of homicide cases in Vancouver have been deemed targeted and of no risk to the public.

Seemingly, targeted killings are a common trend—and they can be observed in a similar context: the United States. The US Department of Justice released a report in 2012 stating that between the years of 1993 to 2008, 21 to 27 percent of homicides were committed by strangers—the majority of homicides, 73 to 79 percent, were committed “by offenders known to the victims.” An older report by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics mentions that in 1996, “only 14 percent of homicide victims were killed by a stranger.”

Vancouver also has one of the lower rates of homicides in the world; for example, Tijuana, Mexico had 1,305 murders in 2020 as of the end of August, which is about 5.5 per day. Regardless of this fact, and the fact that many of the murders in Vancouver were not random and that homicide rates (and crime rates in general) are steady, polls show that our population believes that crime is going up. An Angus Reid poll from 2020 found that about half of all Canadians believe that crime is on the rise—and this idea was “considerably” higher in western provinces of Canada like BC. This is not new news either; a 1997 Angus Reid poll found that 59 percent of Canadians thought that crime was going up—and, again, these ideas were more common in western provinces.

Photo by Billy Bui

“I suspect this sort of behaviour will continue through the winter, regardless of stay-home and social distancing orders [...] people are fed up.’ Bijan concludes. COVID fatigue has set in; people are tired of being locked-up, tired of being cautious, and tired of being scared.