The B.C. government is allocating up to $5 million for a new program aimed at addressing street crime in the province’s downtown communities, including robbery, shoplifting, theft, and property damage.
“Businesses that have been the victims of theft rings and shoplifting are understandably frustrated by the losses they have suffered,” Terry Yung, minister of state for community safety and integrated services, said in the statement.
“Building on the proven success of other public-safety initiatives, we are implementing C-STEP to further strengthen these efforts that support safer downtown cores, so people can build a good life in a safe community.”
The $5 million in funding will provide police with “enhanced tools, technology and investigative resources to curb property crimes,” the province said, adding that police will work with businesses, outreach teams, and social services to address street disorder.
The funding will also support police in conducting proactive patrols and facilitating an increased presence to address issues such as drug use or trafficking, disturbances, obstruction, indecent acts, and public intoxication, the province says.
The BC Association of Chiefs of Police said in the statement it welcomed the program.
“Police leaders continue to raise concerns about repeat offending and the impacts of chronic street-level crime on public safety and community well-being,” said Wendy Mehat, chief superintendent of the association.
“We recognize that a co-ordinated, multi-agency response is essential, and we are committed to working alongside government and community partners to develop long-term, sustainable solutions.”
The measures are part of the province’s Budget 2025, which has allocated $235 million to improving community safety through public safety and justice programs over the next three years, including providing resources to support law enforcement in addressing robbery, shoplifting, and other property crimes.
“Open drug use, street disorder and criminal activity has negatively impacted the health of our downtown core and surrounding neighbourhoods, making people feel less safe,” Deputy Chief Constable Howard Chow of the Vancouver Police Department said in the statement.
Violent Crime Down in Vancouver
The C-STEP program, which is administered by the B.C. RCMP, expands on the provincial government’s Specialized Investigation and Targeted Enforcement (SITE) program that was introduced in 2022 under the province’s Safer Communities Action Plan.The SITE program provides funding to improve proactive police enforcement and investigative techniques that target violent repeat offenders.
The Vancouver Police Department has said that the SITE program led to a 27 percent decrease in violent crime in the Hastings Crossing area of the Downtown Eastside between October 2024 and January 2025, as well as a 45 percent decrease in weapons-related assaults in the Gastown area during the same period. January 2025 was reported as having “the lowest violent- and property-crime rates in Hastings Crossing in over two years.”
