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Global News
11 hours ago
- Global News
Downtown Eastside restaurateur says he could make more dealing drugs on the street
The owner of a Downtown Eastside restaurant on a block with one of the highest crime rates in Vancouver says the irony of all the drug use, dealing and street disorder happening outside his doors is something he tries not to think about as he struggles to run a legal business. At the same time, stakeholders are urging the provincial and federal governments to step up and play a bigger role in tackling the root cause of the area's illegal activity, which continues to thrive. Before the Vancouver Police Department's (VPD) Task Force Barrage brought an increased police presence and foot patrols to Carrall Street near Hastings earlier this year, Calabash Bistro said co-existing with drug dealers has helped them survive for the past 15 years. 'The reality is, is that we've had to create a mutual respect between our business and all the business that happens out there,' Cullin David told Global News in an interview. Story continues below advertisement 3:11 Downtown Eastside business struggles to stay open amid rampant public disorder 'Sometimes they're the only person on the block who can deal with an addict who's literally just done their drugs but is now passed out in front of my restaurant.' The one block radius of Carrall Street and Hastings was known as a hot spot for loitering, street vending, drug trafficking and disorder, according to Insp. Gary Hiar, the commanding officer of Task Force Barrage. Area crime, Hiar said, has decreased since the dedicated police task force began targeting violent offenders and organized criminals on Feb. 13. Statistics provided by the VPD show violent incidents on the block are down 30 per cent from 137 in the period between Feb. 13 and June 15 in 2024 to 96 over the same four months this year. Common assaults have decreased by 40 per cent from 62 in 2024 to 37 this year, serious assaults are down 21 per cent from 34 to 27, robberies have been reduced 62 per cent from 13 to five this year and commercial break and enters are down 75 per cent from eight in 2024 to two in the same four months this year. Story continues below advertisement 'Looking at numbers is one thing, but if the perception is still that it's not safe, then we need to do more,' said Hiar, the commanding officer of Task Force Barrage. While he appreciates the extra police presence, David said it has also introduced new crews to the block, who are trying to take over as existing criminal networks are disrupted. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We're always prepared, that you know, that squeeze on the core of the Downtown Eastside could lead to some disruption or some displacement, I should say,' Hiar responded. 1:54 New security cameras for Vancouver's Downtown Eastside In terms of shifting crime elsewhere, Hiar believes police are keeping a handle on it with additional resources on the outskirts of the area. Early Sunday morning, David said his cooks had a close call when dealers from the 'night shift,' who he said are often armed, drunk or high and much more dangerous than their counterparts on the day shift, attempted to stash something in Calabash's commissary after spotting police on patrol. Story continues below advertisement The tense confrontation that ensued between his staff and approximately 10 aggressive individuals was only defused, said David, when a dealer they know intervened. 'First and foremost, if those types of tensions exist, we need to be called, we need to know because we have the patrols in and around the area, and we're going to respond,' Hiar told Global News on Tuesday. Terry Yung, B.C.'s Minister of State for Community Safety and a former VPD officer who walked the beat in the Downtown Eastside for more than four years, said targeted enforcement of the area's criminal activity will continue, as well as addressing street conditions in the Carrall Street laneway between Hastings and Pender Streets. 'I understand the challenges and sometimes the fear of coming down here,' Yung told Global News in an interview. 'That's the reason I go to work in the morning and do this, because I do believe we can make a difference. Maybe not overnight to solve all the issues that we face, but we can make incremental progress.' The Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association said it is supporting David and other businesses as much as it can with safety and security. 'No business owner should have to risk their life to keep their business open,' executive director Landon Hoyt said in an interview. 'What (David is) facing and what his staff are facing is extreme and something we've never seen before.' Story continues below advertisement 0:39 Task Force Barrage sees dip in DTES crime, Vancouver police say Hoyt said the province promised investment and change in the years preceding the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, noting Carrall Street was celebrated as one of the city of Vancouver's first separated bike paths, but said the community has since been neglected. 'This neighbourhood has not gotten what it deserves,' Hoyt told Global News. 'It's just resulted in abandonment, really, and a crumbling neighbourhood.' Hoyt said his local BIA can only do so much but has advocated relentlessly for the government to address the service gaps in the Downtown Eastside, including through a new Vancouver Agreement. 'Something that actually lays out and defines clear levels of responsibility for all different levels of government. That's something that would lead to change in this community,' said Hoyt. Signed in March 2000, the initial Vancouver Agreement was a five-year collaboration involving the federal, provincial and municipal governments. It focused on three main areas: community health and safety, economic and social development, and community capacity building. Story continues below advertisement According to a B.C. government press release, Vancouver Agreement partners announced more than $2.8 million on Jan. 21, 2003, for new programs aimed at revitalizing the Downtown Eastside economically and socially. 3:18 Retiring VPD chief reflects on policing the Downtown Eastside In April 2005, all three levels of government announced that the Vancouver Agreement would be renewed for a second five-year term lasting until March 2010. 'The Agreement's first focus is the revitalization of the city's Downtown Eastside, particularly encouraging local business attraction and retention, secure and safe housing, and support for residents with addiction and mental health issues,' stated an April 4, 2005, news release on its renewal. The Vancouver Agreement was not renewed after it expired in 2010, and the city of Vancouver confirmed there is currently no similar framework in place. Green Party Coun. Pete Fry said we are not meeting the root causes of problems in the area, and agreed the Vancouver Agreement approach needs to be revisited so all levels of government are brought in to look for proactive solutions. Story continues below advertisement 'How do we knit together federal policy, provincial policy, civic bylaws, policing, all those pieces?' Fry told Global News in an interview. 'We need to get everybody at the same table and figure out what are some of the tangible solutions because what's happening right now isn't working.' 'It makes me wonder what the heck I'm doing down here,' said David. The bistro owner told Global News it would probably be safer selling drugs on Carrall Street than trying to run a restaurant, adding he and his staff have turned down offers of $500 a day to work the block. 'To know that's the amount of money that can be made for standing on a corner while my business is failing, is so incredibly heartbreaking,' said David.
CBC
23-03-2025
- CBC
Vancouver police task force shows signs of reduced crime in DTES, but some call for long-term fix
Social Sharing For the past year, Linda Ly has operated her nail salon, Onyx Aesthetics Studio, four floors above street level in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES). She used to run her business out of a ground-floor studio on Abbott Street, but says she relocated after enduring repeated vandalism and harassment. "We got broken into four times, and within a six-month span, we probably called the police over 100 times," she told CBC News. "We are now upstairs ... [our clients] have to be buzzed in," she said of her new location on Carrall Street. The move has provided reprieve from vandalism, but Ly says she still witnesses the ongoing struggles in the neighbourhood. Recently though, the business owner has noticed a change in the area. "[It] used to be very chaotic, but in the last few weeks, I've noticed it's been pretty clean," she said, gazing down at the street from her studio's new vantage point. Ly's observations align with the Vancouver Police Department's reports on the early success of its new Task Force Barrage. Police say the initiative, which began last month, aims to restore safety and address issues related to drug trafficking and organized crime in the Downtown Eastside — a neighbourhood that has long struggled with poverty, drug use and homelessness. Positive results from increased police presence Since the launch of the task force on Feb. 13, VPD has deployed additional front-line officers to the area, on top of the normal contingent of 60 officers already working in the neighbourhood. According to the department's update this week, the new resources have contributed to a decline in street-level assaults and other violent crimes in the area. "The number of assaults has decreased from four per day to three, and assaults with weapons have dropped by 30 per cent compared to the previous month," said Insp. Gary Hiar, the commanding officer overseeing policing in the DTES. In the five weeks since the program was launched, police say the task force responded to a total of 4,760 calls for service in the DTES, an average of 170 calls a day. "That's a 28 per cent increase from the previous four weeks prior to launching Project Barrage," Hiar said. The task force has also seized 197 weapons, including guns, Tasers and knives, which marks a 258 per cent increase in weapon seizures compared to the previous month. In addition, 153 arrest warrants were executed, leading to 204 criminal code arrests, averaging seven per day. "Just last week when we ran our numbers, there were actually no robberies in the Downtown Eastside, so definitely some compelling numbers there," added Hiar. Some warn of 'whack-a-mole' approach The presence of more police officers patrolling the area has also been noticeable to other local business owners. "There are a lot fewer drug dealers and less people buying stolen goods now. It's definitely quieter," said Greg Uyeda, co-owner of Aiyaohno Cafe on Carrall Street. Yet, Uyeda fears the task force is merely offering a temporary fix, describing the effort as "security theatre." "It's not a solution," he said. "It's just a bit of a Band-Aid." That sentiment is echoed by Landon Hoyt, executive director of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association (BIA). While Hoyt acknowledges the immediate effects of the task force, he believes the root causes of crime — such as the lack of mental health support and supportive housing — must be addressed for the effort to be truly effective in the long run. "I would like to see additional resources put towards mental health and outreach workers to help support some of these people that really need it," Hoyt said. Hoyt also expressed concern that the task force's work coincides with a city-wide freeze on new supportive housing projects in Vancouver, which he feels undermines the overall effectiveness of the initiative. WATCH | Vancouver's new plan for patrolling the Downtown Eastside: Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim lays out new policing plan for Downtown Eastside 1 month ago Duration 1:31 Vancouver's mayor and police Chief Adam Palmer jointly announced on Thursday a long-term operation to dismantle organized drug crime and target predatory criminals in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. As CBC's Chad Pawson reports, it's part of Ken Sim's vision for the future of the DTES. "We're doing one thing that is great … but also we're kind of shooting ourselves in the other foot," he said. Hoyt also noted that while the task force has contributed to a decline in crime in the DTES, the BIA has been receiving increasing reports of assaults in the area of West Hastings Street, suggesting that the issue may be shifting rather than being solved. "We're just merely kind of moving people around, and it's a bit of a whack-a-mole sort of game," he said. Hiar acknowledged that while VPD's task force has made notable progress, there is still more work to be done. "We've been very vocal about it, we can't do this on our own and, and we need community engagement," he said. The police inspector said the task force will continue to work with business advocates, residents, social housing providers and other front-line workers for a more coordinated approach to address problems in the area. According to Hiar, the task force is set to remain in the DTES for at least six months, after which it will be reevaluated. "We will see how we progress further and we'll make those determinations again in the coming weeks and months," he said.
