‘Hang on to your seats’: After over 800 protests in 2021, Vancouver’s top cop says more to come

Vancouver police say demonstrations in the city have steadily increased since 2020 and the department’s top cop is warning the public to expect more protest disruptions this year, and a higher bill for taxpayers.

From anti-mandate convoys and counter-protests this past February to old-growth protesters now parking themselves on busy bridges and highways, Chief Const. Adam Palmer said Vancouver is the “epicentre for protests in British Columbia for sure, and in many cases, Western Canada.”

Speaking at a special council meeting on public safety on April 28, Palmer warned the city to buckle up in anticipation of what’s expected in the coming months.

“Hang on to your seats cause we’re in for a bit of a ride with protests here in Vancouver.”

That ride began in 2020 with Wet’suwet’en solidarity and Black Lives Matter protests followed by anti-mask rallies during the pandemic.

The dramatic increase in demonstrations cost the VPD about $2.5 million to staff.

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In 2021, Palmer said Vancouver police spent well in excess of $3 million on more than 800 protests, and the final costs have yet to come in.

2:18 Old growth demonstrators force heightened security

Those numbers are expected to be even higher this year he said, as environmental protesters change their game.

“A lot of the fight now is coming from the rural areas back into the city because they feel like they get more bang for their buck,” Palmer told the Vancouver Police Board on April 21.

While police support the public’s right to peaceful, legal protest, Sgt. Steve Addison said those disrupting traffic by blocking city bridges and roadways will face arrest and potential mischief and/or obstruction charges.

“We recognize that it’s not lawful and that there’s a very limited public tolerance for this kind of behaviour,” Addison told Global News on Sunday.

Each protest also requires extra officers be deployed to police it he said – almost always on overtime.

“We just don’t have the resources available on duty to deal with everything else that’s happening in the city right now when we’re stretched as thin as we are,” said Addison.

If the first four months are any indication, 2022 may be even more taxing on VPD staffing and budgets.

“It will be a very challenging year staffing-wise and financially,” said Addison.

“If protests continue at the rate that we’ve seen so far.”