Police in Vancouver say more officers will be deployed at what they call 鈥渟trategic locations鈥� including faith-based schools and places of worship leading up to Monday鈥檚 one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel.
Vancouver Police Chief Const. Adam Palmer says planned and unplanned protests across the city are posing a 鈥渟ignificant鈥� risk of disorder, and officers trained specifically for large-scale events will be deployed.
In addition, Palmer says tactical response and uniformed officers will be placed at 鈥渒ey locations鈥� in consultation with leaders of both the Jewish and Muslim communities.
He says uniformed school liaison officers will be highly visible during student pickup and drop-off at faith-based schools on Monday, while a VPD Mobile Command Centre has been posted outside the Jewish Community Centre at Oak Street and West 41st Avenue.
The Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and saw 250 abducted, triggering an Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza that the health ministry there says has left more than 41,000 dead.
Among the groups planning rallies and events over the weekend and on Monday is pro-Palestinian group Samidoun, which is promoting its events on social media by referring to the Oct. 7 attacks as 鈥淎l-Aqsa Flood,鈥� the Hamas code name for the operation.
The 鈥渨eek of action鈥� includes what Samidoun calls a 鈥渢each-in鈥� about the operation and a rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery on Monday, as well as attending an Oct. 8 court appearance the group says will be made by Samidoun organizer Charlotte Kates.
Vancouver police say there have been 344 protests in the city related to the Israel-Hamas war, amounting to more than 3,000 overtime shifts by police and costing $4.1 million in policing.
鈥淚n the first 100 days following the Oct. 7 attacks, we saw a 62 per cent increase in reports of antisemitism,鈥� Palmer said at a briefing.
鈥淢embers of our Muslim and West Asian communities are also hurting,鈥� he added. 鈥淔or some, their sense of safety and belonging has been impacted by Islamophobia, things like hateful encounters with strangers and hurtful graffiti written on walls of schools and community centres.鈥�
Palmer says policing protests related to the Israeli-Hamas war was one of the main cost pressures that would put the VPD around $6 million over budget by the end of the year. That is equivalent to about 1.5 per cent of the entire police budget.
He says police have proactively reached out to protest groups and organizers, and the responses have been mostly 鈥� but 鈥渘ot always鈥� 鈥� co-operative.
鈥淲e will facilitate that, when people have lawful protests,鈥� Palmer says. 鈥淏ut what we will not put up with is violence or hatred or crimes against other people. There鈥檚 no criminality, no violence, no unlawfulness allowed. So that鈥檚 where we draw the line.鈥�
Samidoun director Kates was arrested last year in a hate-crime investigation after praising the Oct. 7 attack as 鈥渉eroic and brave鈥� in a speech at a rally.
The BC Civil Liberties Association wrote to the VPD in June to express concern about her arrest.
