A gang war has been raging on the streets in Vancouver and several other lower mainland communities. In the last two weeks we have had twelve shootings, a kidnapping and yesterday a questionable fatal fall from a balcony by a known gang associate. However on the downtown eastside, the poorest postal code in the country, where over 3,000 people are homeless and living on the streets the Vancouver Police Department (VPD)wants us to know that they are getting a handle on crime! Yes, indeed - The VPD have given out over one thousand tickets for jay walking and loitering. Amazing!
I don't know about anyone else, but I know that I sleep much more soundly here in Delta knowing that the homeless man that I passed sleeping on the park bench, while on my way back from that ski trip to Whistler, is going to get a ticket he cannot pay and be told he has to move to another city!
Please excuse my sarcasm - it comes from reading the stupidity reported in the newspapers!
Perhaps the police prefer to save the lives of the poor and homeless (by stopping them jay-walking) than to save the lives of gangsters who will only waste them by killing one another?
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think so, either.
I think it more likely that they concentrate on the easy cases as these help keep up their case figures. Productivity is very important, you know.
Meanwhile, in the UK, a law has been passed, forbidding the photographing of police officers, supposedly when such photos are intended for nefarious purposes, but I expect that condition to be quickly overlooked.
Actually Silver Tiger it has more to do with ridding the streets of these people so the tourists won't see them when the come to drop big bucks for the 2010 Olympics.
ReplyDeleteThey are going to try and drive them out of the the downtown core and into the suburbs. Cheaper and easier apparently than try to find a solution the housing problem.
This sounds like a situation we had in New York when Rudy was mayor. He wanted to clean up the city and the homeless were in the way.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly the situation rainlillie. They can find billions of dollars for the Olympics, but we cannot find homes for these people.
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