IG news Update,
Security cameras have caught a woman dumping and throwing human feces at a downtown Vancouver building more than once this month.
The first incident took place on 9 March. In the surveillance video, a woman can be seen carrying a bag and sniffing something on the door handle. She enters the building and leaves shortly after.
The latest incident happened earlier this week, when a woman threw faeces at the front door.
The building houses office space, strip club Brandy’s and massage parlor Swedish Touch.
“It was disgusting to see someone walk in with a bag of poop in their hands and spread it all over the wall,” said Nick Cardarelli, bar manager and building manager at Brandy’s.
“It’s shocking that this is happening in Vancouver.”
Cardarelli believes that the culprit is the same woman who has been harassing her customers on the street for money.
Vancouver police have confirmed that a person of interest has been identified, but said no arrests have been made.
They’re investigating it as a prank, which Cardarelli doesn’t think will be enough to scare him.
They don’t want to see any trespassing orders against him and the police want to see this as more of an investigation than mischief.
“We’re talking about human excrement: human excrement is being applied to door handles and walls in places that people touch,” Cardarelli said.
They believe the latest incident is just the tip of the iceberg of public disorder and violence that is happening in the downtown core.
“Vancouver is dying a slow death. People don’t want to do business here because it’s too hard to get anything done.” “My staff don’t want to go home at night because they’re afraid of what’s going to happen to them. I’ve had reports of people being followed or you know people with hammers and stabbings.
City Councilor Lisa Dominato said the city is working to address these concerns.
“We listen to the concerns of small businesses. They are the backbone of our local economy. We listen to them. We are working with various (business improvement associations) to address some of the concerns,” she said. “We want a revitalized downtown, we want a downtown that is safe, clean and vibrant for people to come and enjoy entertainment, but also to come and shop and enjoy retail, nightlife -even days to come and work together.”
She said the city plans to hire 100 new police officers and add more mental health nurses by the end of the year.
The city council has also increased the sanitation service in its budget.
Dominato said the city is also working with the province to address larger issues such as housing, poverty, mental illness and more.
“I think it’s a really complex issue and I think we need to recognize that and we’re working very closely with the provincial government on many of these issues,” she said.
He said a pilot program is also underway to address concerns about faeces, especially as people defecate on footpaths and corridors.