21542 replies to this topic

[max.bravo]

If you’re a bored teenager, why not? Police and politicians have spent the last 5 years essentially telling us they won’t charge anyone with ‘petty’ crime anymore. So if your home life isn’t good, why not get together with your friends and steal from convenience stores, gang up on the homeless, and jump random passers-by? There is literally no consequence — except a big scary press release from police politely asking you to stop the crime.

[Mike K.]

It sounds to me like downtown Victoria needs to follow Chicago's path and implement a curfew for young people not in the presence of a responsible adult.

10PM, and you’re gonzo. Until these kids are held accountable, the activity will continue. The whole point of the exercise is to get noticed, get filmed, get talked about in school. Police chasing them around after incidents happen won’t solve this, as by that point it’s mission accomplished.

[max.bravo]

Agreed. Empty gestures like police asking them to stop doing crime is a reward for these hooligans.

Lock em up and charge them all. Criminal records and juvey will dissuade future offenders. Zero tolerance.

[Victoria Watcher]

No to curfews. Yes to charging them. It’s all on video. Get warrants, confiscate phones.

[Mike K.]

Chicago is doubling down:

Members of the Chicago City Council's Public Safety Committee on Friday approved Mayor Lori Lightfoot's proposed earlier citywide curfew for minors after a string of violent crime -- from shootings to armed robberies to carjackings -- has recently plagued downtown.

Members of the committee on Friday voted 14-3 in favor of revising the 30-year-old curfew ordinance, which Lightfoot signed an executive order for earlier this week. The new curfew states that minors between the ages of 12 and 17 cannot be out on city streets any day of the week, from the hours of 10 p.m. - 6 a.m.

For those 12 and younger, that curfew becomes 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays

Previously, an 11 p.m. curfew for minors applied on weekends, and a 10 p.m. curfew applied on weekdays.

- https://www.nbcchica...etails/2838044/

[JimV]

^PR only.  Chicago is ungovernable.  The police can’t enforce this curfew and probably won’t even try.

[Mike K.]

Sure they do. They don’t mess around downtown.

Last time I was there they had two cops at EVERY intersection along and near the golden mile and major other intersections standing there to observe. The swarming of youths was already happening then.

I talked to them and they said in under a minute flat if something goes down there’s 15 cops at the scene and backup ready in squad cars.

[Mike K.]

Last night I spent the evening downtown and we had a family dinner on lower Yates. Earlier, we sat at the patio at Earls and observed the going-ons. By 4:30 the patio was mostly empty and hardly a person walking the asphalt. It’s not the utopia it was billed as, the closure of Government. Where were all the urbanists hiding?

Sidewalks downtown are disgusting, with vomit, dark dried spilled liquids, garbage, grime, etc. The stench of urine was overwhelming wherever there were alcoves. Groups loitering in hidden spots were shooting up, with one group of youth and 20-somethings at the alley between Yates and Johnson standing around openly drinking liquor. In all of my time there, only one police vehicle passed us. No police presence at all that I saw outside of that.

Swans Liquor Store now has an 8x8 waiting area for customers, who ask for what they want, and staff bring it to them. The crime got to be unmanageable, staff said. McDonalds on Douglas and View shuts its doors at 9 now and customers are served through a little take out window on View. Again, due to disorder and crime.

A cruise ship was in. People were roaming around, only to find most stores closed by 5 or 6. The cruise ship passengers just wandered around aimlessly.

Come 10 when we caught a bus out of downtown I talked to people at the bus stop who said they felt very vulnerable at night now. A couple of young women saw my misses and I, and they clustered around us for safety, I guess, waiting for the bus.

#sad

[Nparker]

#togethervictoriatragedy

[spanky123]

Had friends of mine from Ontario visit last week and they completely bypassed downtown Victoria.  Independently of me, they had been told it was unsafe and to avoid.

[Barrrister]

At least one of the local B and Bs is telling their guests to avoid downtown and are directing them to Oak Bay or even Sidney for restaurants.

[JimV]

I don’t actually think it’s that bad, although we’re only down there on Saturday mornings.  I haven’t encountered a screaming crazy for several months but the number of people sleeping in doorways seems has increased.

 

We used to go downtown for dinner on Friday nights.  Never had any problems but it seems riskier now so we switched to restaurants in James Bay or Cook street.  Even on Saturday at mid day the crowds are much thinner than a few years ago.  All the various disincentives add up - traffic patterns a mess, lack of parking, stores closed, crime risk, construction, street people, litter.

[mbjj]

I have a friend visiting her family here. She lived in Victoria quite a few years ago. I don't think she was downtown, but she didn't think much of the "new and improved" Dallas Road. Too many signs and other clutter. 

 

It's sad for downtown businesses, that's for sure. 

[Midnightly]

yesterday i swung by the 7-11 on bay street to pick up a slurpee after some running around and they had signs on the door saying they were closing, which really surprised me it was a busy location (when i was in there, there were atleast 4 other people)  unfortunately i think the reason they are closing is they just can't keep up with the theft that happens on the regular (the previous time i was in they had someone come in steal something and run off) it's a endless battle.. stores can't stay open if the crime pretty much prevents them from making any profit let alone enough to cover expenses... and ofcourse the city turns a blind eye to it and tells the stores to higher their own security because it's just small things but in the end it all adds up

[Victoria Watcher]

So almost everyone agrees the downtown is between 10 and 30x worse that it was, just 5-15 years ago,

But there are still Helps, Alto, Loveday, and Potts supporters.

[Barrrister]

Jobs and perks for the boys. We have a whole poverty industry. 26 unionized jobs just at Our Place.

[Mike K.]

It’s got to be political. I can’t imagine it’s anything other than political.

We shall see, pending the result, how perceptions change if new leadership is elected.

The fact that the MLA and MP for Victoria appear to refuse to discuss the issues we are seeing gives me sufficient belief that the silence is politics.

[pontcanna]

"Swans Liquor Store now has an 8x8 waiting area for customers, who ask for what they want, and staff bring it to them. The crime got to be unmanageable, staff said."

 

Now? That arrangement goes back a long way. COVID was the reason, I was told well over a year ago.

[FawltyVic]

So almost everyone agrees the downtown is between 10 and 30x worse that it was, just 5-15 years ago,

But there are still Helps, Alto, Loveday, and Potts supporters.

Yeah, agreed.

 

I think factors are:

 

Lack of law enforcement by police/city bylaw.

 

Labeling anyone addicted to drugs as mentally ill.

 

Not holding street people partly accountable for decisions they made that brought them to where they are now.

 

The Government for cutting funds years ago to hospitals that could treat those with serious mental illness and advocates who think these people are better off sorting out their lives outside than inside.

 

And last (but certainly not least) allowing the most violent of the mentally ill back on the streets instead of shuttling them to an institution.

 

And P.S., Helps and her council for allowing Victoria to slowly transform into the next San Francisco/Seattle/Portland.

Edited by FawltyVic, 23 May 2022 - 06:45 PM.

[max.bravo]

Yeah, agreed.

I think factors are:

Lack of law enforcement by police/city bylaw.

Labeling anyone addicted to drugs as mentally ill.

Not holding street people partly accountable for decisions they made that brought them to where they are now.

The Government for cutting funds years ago to hospitals that could treat those with serious mental illness and advocates who think these people are better off sorting out their lives outside than inside.

And last (but certainly not least) allowing the most violent of the mentally ill back on the streets instead of shuttling them to an institution.

And P.S., Helps and her council for allowing Victoria to slowly transform into the next San Francisco/Seattle/Portland.

What do those cities (and vic) have in common? Woke ideologue leadership. The real cause of all these issues is breakdown of traditional liberal morality and it’s replacement with radical leftist / moral relativism.

It is no wonder that when you simultaneously raise Victimhood to the status of sainthood, while trying to defund the police and decry the rule of law as ‘evil white supremacy’ you get disorder and dysfunction. Reap what we sow.