By Marlene Anderson-Joyce, Data Coordinator
Although our Dunbar neighbourhood is one of the very safest in the city, we do get our share of house and car break-ins. Thankfully, this summer saw a decrease in those two crimes. During June, July and August we had reported break-ins into 20 houses and 33 cars. There was also one car stolen and no commercial businesses robbed. That’s a 28-percent decrease from the same period in 2020. All property crime totals are available on the Vancouver Police Department website at http://vancouver.ca/police. At the top, click on Crime Statistics, scroll down and click on GeoDash Crime Map and follow the prompts. These statistics are updated every Wednesday afternoon if you’d like to see where crimes are happening weekly.
Your Dunbar Community Patrol does its best to cover as much territory as it can, but we’re always in need of new patrollers, especially cyclists. During COVID we have not been able to accept new patrollers. However, we are hopeful that we will be able to use the Dunbar Community Centre for interviews and training this fall. So if you enjoy meeting new people, walking or biking for some exercise, and getting to know Dunbar better, please see our Recruitment Flyer in this issue. We’re now in our 17th year and continue to work with the Vancouver Police Department to assist in ensuring the safety of Dunbar residents and businesses.
In 2005, I joined the newly formed Dunbar Community Patrol as reports coordinator and walk patroller. Since then I’ve enjoyed meeting dozens of interesting and personable neighbours that I’m unlikely to have met otherwise. I take pride in doing the best I can to help protect our neighbourhood from the criminal element that unfortunately no neighbourhood can now avoid. I can honestly say that no street or lane has escaped my scrutiny, daytime or late at night, at some time during the last 16 years. Some patrols are what one might call “uneventful,” and some are not. You never know what you might find.