Stanley Cup riot investigation saps police resources
Response times in the Downtown Eastside were up by more than 13 per cent in the first part of 2012
The Vancouver police investigation into last year’s Stanley Cup riot has soaked up so many resources it has led to an almost 10- per- cent increase in police response times throughout the city.
According to data comparing the first quarter of 2012 to the same quarter last year, response times in the Downtown Eastside and vicinity increased by more than 13 per cent.
“We believe the slower times were a bit of an anomaly caused by the tremendous impact of the massive riot investigation that stretched resources over those months,” said police spokeswoman Const. Jana Mcguinness in an email.
Between January and March, average city- wide response times increased 9.3 per cent — to nine minutes and 46 seconds in 2012 from eight minutes and 56 seconds in 2011.
It took the police 71 seconds longer to respond to incidents in Strathcona, Grandview-Woodland and Hastings-Sunrise, areas that include the Downtown Eastside. The
We should see response times return to their previous levels.
CONST. JANA MCGUINNESS
POLICE SPOKESWOMAN
average response time was nine minutes and 49 seconds in 2012, compared to eight minutes and 38 seconds in 2011.
Mcguinness said the force expects that as officers return to their regular assignments, “we should see response times return to their previous levels.” A new group of recruits is also expected to help.
Irwin Cohen, head of the University of the Fraser Valley’s school of criminology, said that though lower priority calls like vandalism probably faced longer response times, there likely hasn’t been a significant increase in response times for the highest- priority calls, such as ongoing assaults, which normally make up about three per cent of all calls for police assistance.
A major event such as the Olympics can also affect the aggregate call response time Cohen said, as regular officers are tasked with different responsibilities.
The riot investigation website says more than 70 officers from all Lower Mainland police forces, municipal departments and the RCMP, are part of the investigation team.
The statistics also indicate violent crime, such as homicide, attempted murder, sexual and non- sexual assault and robbery, fell 6.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2012. The first three months of the year saw 1,532 violent crimes reported, compared to 1,640 during the same period in 2011.
The district with the greatest drop in violent crime ( 17.9 per cent) includes the southeast neighbourhoods from Mount Pleasant to Renfrew- Collingwood, and Sunset to Killarney. Only 270 crimes were reported in those neighbourhoods in the first quarter of 2012, compared to 329 in 2011.
Property crime, however, increased 3.1 per cent for the city overall — to 8,173 between January and March of this year, from 7,924 in 2011.