Commander says reports of harassment aimed at people of Asian background are almost 10 times higher this year than last
Vancouver police have formed an investigations team to address hate crimes against members of the city’s East Asian community during the coronavirus pandemic.Vancouver police have formed a special team of investigators to deal with a wave of harassment incidents targeting members of the city’s East Asian community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Inspector Dale Weidman, incident commander of the new team, told the news conference that such units are generally assembled to deal with specific issues, but this is the first he can recall for hate crimes.He said he expects it will operate, with resources increasing and decreasing as required, until harassment numbers subside to the norm of about 11 incidents a month overall.
“They’re obviously taking it seriously,” he said in an interview. He added that he assumes police fear “a snowball effect:” If they don’t move decisively, people will assume weakness or police disinterest, which could lead to an escalation in the incidents and an increase in severity.On Friday, Vancouver police said they are dealing with 155 hate-associated reports this year, up from 69 for the same time in 2019. In that year, Insp.
Police released a surveillance video that shows the suspect yelling at the victim, and shoving him out of the store, which caused him to fall and hit his head. Police have said the suspect’s comments include remarks about COVID-19.
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