Vancouver police block East Hastings to bring ‘encampment to a close’

Police in Vancouver have shut down East Hastings Street between Main Street and Columbia Street Wednesday morning as a part of town’s plan to decamp the world.

In an announcement, the City of Vancouver confirms it has requested “support” from the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) to “bring the East Hastings encampment to a close following a steady deterioration in public safety and an increase in fires in the area and the encampment zone.”

“Today, City staff, with assistance from members of the VPD, will be working to remove all remaining entrenched tents and structures in the area, approximately 80 in total. The VPD will be present to ensure staff safety as they do their work and enforce the Streets and Traffic Bylaw as necessary,” town stated.

The dismantling of the #DTES encampment on E Hastings has begun. Vancouver police blocking entry from Columbia to Gore. Folks down right here not glad. More to come back @CityNewsVAN pic.twitter.com/EqzOvpnlFJ

— Michael Williams (@MikeWillsTake) April 5, 2023

In a media availability at 10:30 a.m., Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim stated that for eight months metropolis workforce members have been working “every single day to remove structures, to enforce bylaws, and to help transition vulnerable residents into shelters and housing.”

Sim says the work has been executed with “respect, compassion, and patience,” and greater than 600 tents and buildings have been eliminated.

“Now, sadly, issues have reached a turning level. … Many of these people in the East Hastings encampment have indicated an unwillingness to take away buildings or to cooperate with Vancouver workforce members and each day we’re listening to new and typically horrific tales — theft, vandalism, mindless acts of violence, violence towards girls and extra particularly, violence towards Indigenous girls.

“We’ve also seen a sharp increase in fires. Fires that not only threaten the lives and personal belongings of individuals but also they pose a risk a significant risk to affordable low-barrier rental housing in the community,” Kim defined.

Vancouver Fire Rescue Services issued a Fire Chief’s Order in July 2022 to take away tents and buildings alongside the road to handle “fire, life, and safety concerns.”

In the provision, Fire Chief Karen Fry stated the dangers coming from the buildings included blocked exits, obstructed hearth division connections, and “combustibles” towards buildings within the space — together with propane and different flammable liquids.

“Since that order, while we have seen some improvements on the street, it has not changed and it is only getting worse. There has been an increase in outdoor fire activities in this area, with an increase of 17 per cent of outdoor fires from January to February of this year compared to last year,” Fry famous.

Spoke with Vince Tao from VANDU – “It’s like a war-zone” pic.twitter.com/fSscAukqkH

— Michael Williams (@MikeWillsTake) April 5, 2023

“Since 2019, this area alone has had an increase of 340 per cent of outdoor fires. This persistent fire risk posed by the encampments and recent fires in the neighborhood has made the situation of East Hastings Street even more precarious since the fire order went in place. Over 1,600 propane tanks have been removed,” Fry emphasised. “1,600”

The metropolis additionally described hearth issues in an earlier assertion.

“The persistent fire risk posed by the encampment and recent fires in neighbouring buildings has made the situation on East Hastings even more precarious. Fires are occurring too regularly in the area and with escalating intensity due to an accumulation of materials and propane tanks. More than 400 outdoor fires on East Hastings have occurred over the last eight months. Four people have already been injured this year.”

In a tweet, the VPD says it has “deployed additional officers” to the world, to work “within the Hastings Street encampment.”

Meanwhile, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) says in a social media put up it believes there are over 100 officers alongside Hastings. The neighborhood advocacy group says police “are creating an ‘exclusion zone’ barring community & legal observers from entering” whereas metropolis crews arrive.

There are actually approx. 100 constables on Hastings. @VancouverPD are creating an 'exclusion zone' barring neighborhood & authorized observers from coming into, ready for @CityofVancouver to reach.

This paramilitary tactic was used towards Wet'suwet'en land defenders & at Fairy Creek. pic.twitter.com/en4UEE06St

— VANDU (@VANDUpeople) April 5, 2023

Vancouver police say that to “ensure public safety and privacy” they’ve restricted public entry.

To guarantee security and privateness for folks inside the encampment, we now have restricted public entry. Media and observers can stage at Columbia and East Hastings Street.

— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) April 5, 2023

The City of Vancouver’s site visitors cameras exhibiting the Main and Hastings intersection went down simply after 9:10 a.m., going dwell once more as of 9:45 a.m. In the provision, City Manager Paul Mochrie famous it was an “inadvertent technical error on the part of our staff.”

“That was a mistake, as we’re working to manage the technology around this, so, once that camera was brought to our attention we did remedy that error. That camera is now online, and then … generally … this is obviously a very complex operation. We are working to provide as much transparency as possible,” he stated.

The metropolis’s plan was leaked to the Stop the Sweeps advocacy group earlier this week, which confirmed that metropolis engineers, flanked by VPD, will “no longer disengage when tensions rise or protestors/advocates become too disruptive.”

Related articles: 

• Vancouver SRO being evicted as East Hastings decampment looms

• Vancouver police, metropolis works to clear Downtown Eastside encampment

• Vancouver to ‘escalate’ East Hastings tent removals: neighborhood advocates

Stop the Sweeps describes the plan as a “major shift” within the metropolis’s strategy, including it’s an finish to the “so-called compassionate approach to encampments.”

“The City and the Province have failed to create enough dignified housing. They’re now choosing to use blunt force to make people disappear from the street,” stated Jess Gut, a Stop the Sweeps organizer.

Stop the Sweeps says the police-led decampment efforts will convey an elevated risk of arrest to folks experiencing homelessness, with using police being criticized by each the Federal Housing Advocate and the United Nations Special Rapporteur On The Right to Adequate Housing.

“All we’ve been asking for is somewhere to go. Instead, they want us to disappear,” stated DTES tent resident Syn. “They need to work with us. Bringing in more police will just create more trauma.”

More to come back

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