(picture by barjack)Vancouver scored the highest from all the American cities in the prestigious quality of living study by Mercer. And still it is getting negative international press attention by The Economics and The Independent. Why is that?
While Vancouver has 2.7 mil residents, there have been 45 gunfire incidents from January to March 2009. 17 people died in these. Converted per 1 mil inhabitants, that means 6.3 of them died violently. Compared to Toronto (5.1 mil inhabitants), there was 11 murders in the same period, which works out at 2.2 violent deaths per 1 mil inhabitants – almost three times less!
Double war: gangs fight gangs, gangs fight the police
The number of gangs working in Vancouver has multiplied 10 times over the last 10 years. Speaking in specific numbers, it is more than 100 groups active in Vancouver these days! And what is making these statistics even worse, is 1) bad organization of the gangs, 2) their easy access to weapons, and ) the average gang member age being very low.
Currently, there is a double war in process at Vancouver streets. One of them being of course between the gangs themselves. The gangs are at each other's throats since the price of cocaine from Mexico has gone up. In the recent past, the cocaine price has gone up from $23,300/kg up to almost $39,000/kg, this being caused by the activities against drug cartels led by the Mexican administration.
There is a natural question occurring - why is Vancouver such a drug capital? The answer to this question should mention the general carefree attitude of the place in conjunction with its position on the map and its enormous low populated areas surrounding it, all this resulting in great conditions for a very active drug scene. Also no other place in Canada combines these characteristics to such an extent. Despite all this, the number of policemen in Vancouver is lower (recalculated per number of inhabitants) than anywhere else in Canada - concerning mostly great cities. Moreover, the local politicians are proposing to lower the annual police and court budget by $20 million by 2012. The other battle going on between the gangs and the police would be much more favorable to the latter, if the police had enough resources, both financial and personal.
How to handle the situation
While Vancouver has 2.7 mil residents, there have been 45 gunfire incidents from January to March 2009. 17 people died in these. Converted per 1 mil inhabitants, that means 6.3 of them died violently. Compared to Toronto (5.1 mil inhabitants), there was 11 murders in the same period, which works out at 2.2 violent deaths per 1 mil inhabitants – almost three times less!
Double war: gangs fight gangs, gangs fight the police
The number of gangs working in Vancouver has multiplied 10 times over the last 10 years. Speaking in specific numbers, it is more than 100 groups active in Vancouver these days! And what is making these statistics even worse, is 1) bad organization of the gangs, 2) their easy access to weapons, and ) the average gang member age being very low.
Currently, there is a double war in process at Vancouver streets. One of them being of course between the gangs themselves. The gangs are at each other's throats since the price of cocaine from Mexico has gone up. In the recent past, the cocaine price has gone up from $23,300/kg up to almost $39,000/kg, this being caused by the activities against drug cartels led by the Mexican administration.
There is a natural question occurring - why is Vancouver such a drug capital? The answer to this question should mention the general carefree attitude of the place in conjunction with its position on the map and its enormous low populated areas surrounding it, all this resulting in great conditions for a very active drug scene. Also no other place in Canada combines these characteristics to such an extent. Despite all this, the number of policemen in Vancouver is lower (recalculated per number of inhabitants) than anywhere else in Canada - concerning mostly great cities. Moreover, the local politicians are proposing to lower the annual police and court budget by $20 million by 2012. The other battle going on between the gangs and the police would be much more favorable to the latter, if the police had enough resources, both financial and personal.
How to handle the situation
I have been dealing real estate in Vancouver BC for a long time abd I know local safety is always crucial in realtor's business. It would be naive from me to come up with an all-solving idea. However, it seems obvious to me that the police would need to increase its staff count and budget, not cut it back! Safety and security have to become the city's important characteristics again. We are planning to host the Olympics here in 2010, but also and mainly it is in the Vancouver people's best interests. Proposing new strict law by the PM Stephen Harper – labelling gang killings as first-degree murder with a sentence of at least 25 years, is definitely a move to the right direction, but much more has to be done for the city to become what it used to be.
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