Vancouver’s mayor says he has directed a full review of the safety measures that were in place at Saturday’s Lapu Lapu Festival – where 11 people were killed when a driver plowed through the celebratory crowd.
Ken Sim announced the review at a news conference with city officials Sunday, where he said he was “completely heartbroken” by the unthinkable” and “horrific” incident that claimed the lives of people from age five to 65.
“I want to know how we can avoid an incident like this from ever happening again,” Sim said, adding that the review will look at things like traffic control, barriers, and planning protocols.
Vancouver Police Department interim Chief Const. Steve Rai said he knows one of the questions at the forefront of people’s minds is whether anything could have been done to prevent the tragedy.
Rai said the City of Vancouver and police conducted a joint risk assessment prior to the event and decided that “dedicated police officers and heavy vehicle barricades would not be deployed at the festival site.”
Nevertheless, he said he is confident the safety plan was “sound.”
Police use a “formula” to assess risk at large-scale events, which Rai said includes looking at whether protests are likely, whether threats have been made, whether anyone associated with the gathering has a history with police, and the event’s history.
“According to the assessment, there was no need to lock it down like we would some other more high-risk events based on the intelligence we gathered,” he said.
Rai said the police were present but the family friendly, celebratory nature of the event was such that police and city officials didn’t want to “cage people in.”
The 30-year-old suspect – who was restrained by members of the public until police arrived to arrest him – has not been charged.
Authorities have, however, said the man has a “significant” history of interactions with police and health-care workers due to mental health issues.
“We can’t predict one-offs, and we certainly don’t want to create a police state,” Rai said, adding that police alone can’t predict or respond to mental health crises.
“We’ve got to get to the root cause. We’ve got to get people help, and it’s not putting more cops on the street.”
Sim, as he alluded to Sunday, campaigned on a platform of improving public safety in large part by boosting police funding and hiring 100 new officers.
