THEVOICE | THURSDAY, NOV. 2, 2017 | EDITOR DUNCAN ANDERSON Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer (left) and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson (right) answer questions for The Voice after Vancouver Police Board Meeting on Oct. 26, 2017. DUNCAN ANDERSON PHOTO al? OD strategy failing Despite more treatment, death rates climb = By VIOLETTA KRYAK ancouver’s mayor and police chief say they are seeing more drug treat- ment services become available but want the provincial government to take more action to stop the unprecedented number of overdose deaths. Gregor Robertson said the city continues to see an average of seven overdose deaths per week, despite an increase in drug treatment op- tions over the last year. “We need a number of differ- ent tools to address the crisis,” said Robertson after an Oct. 26 police board meeting. “We are tracking the numbers every week and the tragedies con- tinue.” Almost a year ago, in Decem- ber 2016, Chief Adam Palmer, the mayor and now-retired fire chief John McKearney made a unified plea for more treatment for drug users. At the time, Palmer said there was a need for a long-term strategy to help people in crisis. On a regular basis, he noted, drug users seek out police and other first responders to find them immediate treatment for their addiction. “We are going to see hundreds of people die this year in Vancouver — as has already happened — and this far surpassed the numbers that died last year, so we have been calling for more treatment,” Palmer said. According to the B.C. Coroners Service, there were 196 illicit drug overdose deaths in Vancouver from January to August 2017, compared to 124 last year for the same period. ‘The deadly synthetic narcotic, fen- tanyl, was detected in 81 per cent of them. Judy Darcy, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, has asked health authorities to submit im- plementation plans for injectable hydromorphone treatment to the ministry by next week. “Earlier this month, we approved new guidelines from the B.C. Cen- tre on Substance Use for injectable opioid agonist treatment to give people more treatment options for opioid addiction,” said an emailed statement from the ministry to Te Voice. Atlarge Gun crimes up VPD reports rise in shootings = By EVAN HAGEDORN T: number of shootings in Vancouver has sharply in- creased over previous years, which has Police Chief Adam Palmer worried about rising gang activity. A Vancouver Police Department report presented at a Vancouver Po- lice Board meeting Oct. 26 shows there were 28 “shots fired” between January and September of this year. That's an increase from 18 for the same period last year, and seven in 2015. “We definitely do have some concerns about ongoing gang vio- lence in Vancouver and in Metro Vancouver. We do have a number of things underway to address that,” Palmer told the board. “We are in one of those fluctuations that we see over time where there’s a new set of young and up and coming gangsters and they're shooting each other and murdering each other and causing all kinds of mayhem.” Palmer told board members he’d inform them in a private meet- ing about police projects to target the groups involved in the shoot- ings, which have been primarily in southeast Vancouver. ‘The VPD report also shows ho- micides and bank robberies have increased this year. Bank robberies in Vancouver jumped to 42 this year from 39 in 2016. There were 15 ho- micides in first nine months, com- pared to 10 in 2016. Palmer said an increase in bank robberies is usually connected to known criminals, or parolees, who just got out of jail. “They get out of jail, they're ad- dicted to drugs, they have to feed their habit and that’s what they know,” Palmer said. However, bank robberies have a high solve rate for police, he said. Palmer noted one arrest can often result in a suspect being charged for multiple heists. Malcolm Chivers, director of corporate security for the Canadian Bankers Association, said Vancouver bank robberies have decreased this last decade, but have been known to fluctuate. “We have a very good network amongst the banks and law en- forcement where we're able to ad- just our efforts to focus on any sig- nificant increase at all,” he said. VIOLENT CRIMES INCIDENTS FROM 2016 - 2017 » Violent crimes Violent crimes increased by 2.1%. » Sexual offences Sexual offences increased by 0.6%. »Shots fired There were 28 shots fired inci- dents in 2017 compared to 18 in 2016 »Bank robberies There were 42 bank robbery incidents in 2017 compared to 39 in 2016. SOURCE: VANCOUVER.CA CHARTWELLS CAMPUS PROJECTS Community ENGAGE YOUR PASSION. ADVANCE SUSTAINABILITY. CALL FOR PROJECTS! RECEIVE $5000 Q dinescampus Sica Chartwells, your campus food service provider, wants to bring your ideas to life! If you have a project idea for advancing sustainability on campus, we want to help make it a reality. Find more information, and submit your project idea here: https://www.smore.com/gx6ah Chartwells C). where hungry minds gather i