Public Disorder & the Decline of Vancouver's Livability

[whatnext]

What the actual f*ck is happening to this city?! Enough of the chaos. I'm voting for whoever threatens to use the Notwithstanding Clause to override our bleeding heart judiciary.

'Unprovoked' attacks in Vancouver leave man dead, another with severed hand
Updated Sept. 4, 2024 12:35 p.m. PDT

A pair of stranger attacks in downtown Vancouver left one man dead and another with a severed hand on Wednesday morning.

Vancouver police say they arrested a 34-year-old suspect in connection with the homicide and assault, adding investigators believe the attacks were "unprovoked."

The Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Hamilton Street was behind police tape Wednesday and a body was visible under a police tent nearby.

Two blocks away, forensic detectives were examining the front door of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Holy Rosary on Dunsmuir Street, where a trail of blood appeared to connect the church with another crime scene on Homer Street....

...Police were called to the area of the cathedral at 7:38 a.m. where a man in his 50s had suffered a severed hand and knife wounds to his head. The man was taken to hospital for emergency treatment and is expected to survive, police said.

CTV News has viewed a still photograph snapped by a bystander that shows an apparent victim of the attack. The man’s hand appears to be severed and a significant amount of blood can be seen dripping from his arm.

Eight minutes later, at 7:46 a.m., police were called to the area of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre where a second man was reportedly attacked.

"Despite efforts to save his life, the man died at the scene," the police statement said. "The victim's identity and age have not yet been confirmed."...

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/unprovoked-att...hand-1.7024914

[Vin]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

You're right, it doesn't, because that's also covered in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Perhaps you need to review it as well.

Should we release the man mentioned above if it is within his Charter of Rights and Freedoms so that he can go hack more people?

If our justice system has come to that, should we not be opposing it and be demanding more?

[Calgarian]

Hope they keep this guy locked up this time! We really need to figure this out in this country, the revolving door justice system is failing us badly!!

[jollyburger]

^^ Bye bye Eby

"This appears to be a very troubled man who has a lengthy history of mental health-related incidents, which have resulted in more than 60 documented contacts with police throughout Metro Vancouver."

Palmer said the suspect has prior convictions for assault and, at the time of his arrest on Wednesday, was on probation in relation to an assault charge from 2023."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...reet-1.7312994

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

^^ Bye bye Eby



https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...reet-1.7312994

Sounds like he should have been locked up in Riverview long ago. I don’t care about his “rights”.

[jollyburger]

I wonder if it's connected to that SRO around the corner?

Some guy who did pretty much the same thing in 2022 was back on the streets in 2024 getting charged for some other crime.

A man pleaded guilty Friday in a machete attack last year. The stranger assault nearly decapitated a woman visiting Vancouver.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10158084/...achete-attack/

Video of the suspect getting arrested

https://x.com/DailyShawn/status/1831370988732469675

[Feathered Friend]

Despite the “horrific” nature of the crimes, Palmer sought to reassure the public that the city remains safe and said attacks like these are rare.

“Vancouver is not dying, Vancouver is not dead, Vancouver is not unsafe. That’s all hyperbole and it’s not actually factual,” he said, adding violent crimes happen in every major city.

“What I will say is that our crime numbers are way down … We will still have crimes like this that will disturb the public and are disturbing to me and I am sure are disturbing to you on a personal level.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/10732611/...ous-incidents/

I'm glad to see a reasonable response to this violence from the chief of police.

I agree that this individual shouldn't be permitted to pose a future risk to society, and that they should get the healthcare treatment that they need. I would also hope the victims are well taken care of, because it's an understatement to call this a traumatic event.

[jollyburger]

When a police officer gets killed in the line of duty will Palmer spit out some statistics on police officer deaths? I'm guessing no.

[Zepfancouver]

Originally Posted by whatnext

What the actual f*ck is happening to this city?! Enough of the chaos...

After I visit this thread, I always say to myself "I'll keep my guard up when walking the street today" But once I'm out there, it never comes to mind, it's not even the last thing on my mind. Taking a wrong step and hurting my ankle is the last thing on my mind, and that is less likely than me getting stab or killed by a crazy. A 'could have happen to anyone' crime use to be (decades ago) dealt with swift action and new laws.
Today, "Enough of the chaos" is just a faint echo in the distance. Sad.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I wonder if it's connected to that SRO around the corner?

The person arrested is described as a 34 year old resident from White Rock. That would be a different person from the 27 year old arrested for a fatal knife attack in White Rock earlier this year. I guess it's not the sleepy suburb I imagine it to be.

[logan5]

Do we actually have the right facility for this guy, because I don't think he will be held criminally responsible. He needs to be locked up in a mental institution for a long time.

[jollyburger]

Nanaimo had their own machete crime spree this week too. Welcome to big city life.

Court records showed Bartos was charged with break and enter and mischief for an alleged March 13 incident in Surrey.

Bartos was most recently released on bail on two occasions: June 20 and Aug. 26, court records showed.

Bartos has an extensive criminal history in the province and has been jailed several times for violent crimes.

He served a nine-month jail sentence for a 2011 robbery in Nanaimo.

Records show Bartos has also used the alias, Christopher Bartos Hartt.

https://nanaimonewsnow.com/2024/09/0...g-crime-spree/

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by logan5

Do we actually have the right facility for this guy, because I don't think he will be held criminally responsible. He needs to be locked up in a mental institution for a long time.

Yes, here the Forensic Psychiatric Facility in Port Coquitlam is where anyone found incapable of being taken to trial due to their mental health condition would be placed. But there's no guarantee that he would be locked up for a long time. If he's considered sufficiently recovered to leave the facility, then that would be what happens. Obviously it's a gradual transition, with initially escorted day release, but there's no time associated with the placement. If that's how the case progresses, he's considered sick, not criminally responsible, so he's not treated as a criminal. At the same time the system is reasonably cautious about releasing residents, as the Allan Schoenborn case illustrates.

[GMD]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

https://globalnews.ca/news/10732611/...ous-incidents/

I'm glad to see a reasonable response to this violence from the chief of police.

I agree that this individual shouldn't be permitted to pose a future risk to society, and that they should get the healthcare treatment that they need. I would also hope the victims are well taken care of, because it's an understatement to call this a traumatic event.

Yes, it was good to see this from the police chief, although worrying to think he might have said something different if a different party was running the city. The good news is that (despite this horrible incident) the crime rate is coming down from its pandemic spike and BC/Vancouver are on pace for one of their lowest homicide rates in a long time.

The bad news is it could be so much better if we just took a harder line on locking up the relatively small number of people who commit repeated offenses (say, more than 10 as a starting point) - not for retribution, or to punish them, or for justice, or anything like that - just as a preventative matter to stop them from committing any more crimes. In this sense, it doesn't matter whether the person is 'criminally responsible' for their actions or not, all that matters is that they be prevented from committing more crimes.

Of course, it matters for how the repeat offender should be treated while incarcerated (eg mental facility vs regular prison, etc.) but not for the fact that they need to be incarcerated for a long time.

Politicians are afraid to confront the judiciary and their interpretation of the charter that focuses on the rights of the offenders, but I think the pendulum is swinging back towards an approach that puts public safety and order higher in the order of priorities.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by GMD

Yes, it was good to see this from the police chief, although worrying to think he might have said something different if a different party was running the city. The good news is that (despite this horrible incident) the crime rate is coming down from its pandemic spike and BC/Vancouver are on pace for one of their lowest homicide rates in a long time.

The bad news is it could be so much better if we just took a harder line on locking up the relatively small number of people who commit repeated offenses (say, more than 10 as a starting point) - not for retribution, or to punish them, or for justice, or anything like that - just as a preventative matter to stop them from committing any more crimes. In this sense, it doesn't matter whether the person is 'criminally responsible' for their actions or not, all that matters is that they be prevented from committing more crimes.

Of course, it matters for how the repeat offender should be treated while incarcerated (eg mental facility vs regular prison, etc.) but not for the fact that they need to be incarcerated for a long time.

Politicians are afraid to confront the judiciary and their interpretation of the charter that focuses on the rights of the offenders, but I think the pendulum is swinging back towards an approach that puts public safety and order higher in the order of priorities.

But isn't the whole idea of treatment for this level of mental psychosis just lip service if there's no expectation of release? I think judges/parole review boards/mental professionals will also be under a lot of pressure as well on when someone is deemed fit to be on day parole or release.

[Bcasey25raptor]

It blows my mind that Machetes aren't illegal

[svlt]

I'm literally trying to find the correct online echo chamber that would support these catch and release policies - because that's generally my approach, I like to understand the side someone is coming from, whether it be a hardline conservative, or liberal, or something in between - and I'm even having trouble finding where someone defends these policies. Like whether you vote NDP or Conservative or Green or United, surely, surely you must think it's nonsense to let someone who can conceivably hack apart your father, brother, son, husband, mother, sister etc. apart on a bad trip be roaming the streets?

Is there anyone out there who thinks this person should be released anytime within the next 25 years, except for this person themselves? Can they chime in and explain why?. And if there are literally no one that thinks it's the right thing to do, why are we still doing it? I'm not even sure it's a left/right issue, but I don't know how it became painted with a leftist brush. It's just stupid policy, and has been for years.

[jollyburger]

Brendan Colin McBride

Brendan Colin McBride, a 34-year-old White Rock man, is facing one count of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault.

On Thursday, police identified the homicide victim as Francis David Laporte, 70.

The identity of the other victim has not been released, though police say he is recovering in hospital after undergoing surgery for his severed hand.

Court records show that McBride faced charges of assault and wilfully resisting or obstructing an officer in relation to a September 2023 incident in White Rock. He was later convicted of assault. Following the conviction, McBride was subject to an 18-month probation order.

McBride has also had interactions with police in Merritt, North Vancouver and Surrey.

https://vancouversun.com/news/suspec...vered-homicide

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Bcasey25raptor

It blows my mind that Machetes aren't illegal

How do you ban machetes without banning large chefs' knives?

You want to ban machetes because they can be used to chop through flesh and bone, but chefs need knives that can chop through flesh and bone.

https://www.zwilling.com/ca/zwilling...e-chefs-knives

I think it's just a dangerous thing that's impossible to ban without hurting the greater good, like cars.

[jollyburger]

The police chief told reporters Wednesday that he believed the suspect was among the minority of people struggling with serious mental illness who needed to be forced into care.

Chief Palmer also bristled at the leniency afforded Mr. McBride by the criminal justice system, pointing out Mr. McBride’s probation orders were “quite light” without offering specifics and questioned why he had “some serious charges” stayed against him. Chief Palmer also alleged the suspect had a history of assaulting police officers and health care workers.

This April, Mr. McBride was sentenced by a B.C. Provincial Court justice in Surrey for the White Rock assault. The justice stayed his related charge of resisting or obstructing the local RCMP officer who tried to arrest him.

Mr. McBride could avoid being jailed, the judge ruled, as long as he agreed to nine conditions that included keeping the peace, giving his victim an apology letter and completing psychiatric treatment, with the possibility of living at a specialized facility, as directed by his probation officer.

Last year, he had been given a year’s probation by another judge in North Vancouver for assaulting a man there and Mr. McBride agreed to nine conditions that also included attending psychiatric outpatient therapy.

Matt Warren said he and Mr. McBride went to school together in North Vancouver and were close friends from early childhood up until around age 20. He said his friend was “always very paranoid, but never crazy,” in his view.

“He reached out a few times in his 20s to say he was being abused, being held against his wish,” Mr. Warren told The Globe and Mail. “He had reached out to me last November to ramble about the church, demons he was fighting and that God had let him down.”

In text messages shared with The Globe, Mr. McBride told his friend that month that he was “dealing with a spiritual conflict with god, the father of perhaps the devil.” He said he was on government disability, living in White Rock, and believed there was a “militant scheme” to torture him through surveillance and psychological torment. Mr. Warren responded in a message that Mr. McBride always had a friend in him, and to let him know how he could help.

Mr. Warren said he was shocked to learn of Wednesday’s attack.

“The Brendan I knew extremely well had a good heart and cared for people. Whatever he went through ... had clearly taken control of him,” he said. “I didn’t know he was directly a threat to anyone, but I also didn’t know who to call.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...chiatric-care/