Following a deadly attack at a mosque in San Diego, Calif., earlier this week, police in parts of the Lower Mainland are stepping up enforcement.
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) tells 1130 NewsRadio it has reached out and communicated with the local Muslim community.
“That was in connection with our policing partners, along with community members, to see what’s needed,” explains Const. Darren Wong.
“Anytime these things happen, there is a ripple effect, and we understand parishioners and people want to know if they feel safe in their own community to go and worship.”
He says the police presence will be visible.
“We’re deploying officers to places of worship, schools that might have close ties and with this kind of stuff, we constantly monitor to see, ‘What’s the level of threat? Are there any ties to the Lower Mainland where there could be a threat?’… and we’ll address our staffing as needed.”
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South of the Fraser River, the Surrey Police Service (SPS) is mirroring what the VPD is doing.
“In light of the tragic event in San Diego, SPS will be reaching out to mosque leaders in Surrey and will also be conducting extra high visibility patrols around mosques in Surrey,” says Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton.
Increased patrols are expected to continue into next week as Muslim communities celebrate Eid al-Adha.
Meanwhile, the BC RCMP didn’t confirm whether it’s increasing patrols, and, in an emailed statement to 1130 NewsRadio, said, “We have strong relationships with multi-faith communities and leaders across B.C. and will be working closely with them to address any safety or security concerns.
The San Diego shooting left three men dead, including a security guard — who was a father of eight — who is said to have protected the roughly 140 kids on the grounds and worked to, as police say, “delay, distract and deter” the shooters and from causing, what could have been, a higher death toll.
The bodies of the two teen suspects, who took their own lives, were found in a vehicle not far from the mosque. Police are still working to determine a motive, but added that anti-Islamic writings were found in the suspects’ car, and the attack is being investigated as a hate crime.
—With files from Raynaldo Suarez