A resident of Hastings street is asked to leave their tent with the City of Vancouver and VPD nearby. Photo credit: Nicholas Naylor

Photos: Continuation of Decampment in the Downtown Eastside

Despite police surrounding the Downtown Eastside on Wednesday Morning to shut down the campers, new tents have popped up Thursday morning

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By Kalvin Moses

Photographs by Nicholas Naylor and Ty Lim

For a second day in a row, City of Vancouver workers backed up by police worked to clear tent encampments from East Hastings Street in the city’s downtown core.

In a statement the city said it was forced to begin removing tents following a decline in public safety. The city staff was tasked in bringing  down all the tents in the area, with assistance from the Vancouver Police Department to ensure the safety of the staff and to control the streets and traffic, the statement said.

However, the decision has met with negative reactions from the campers as some are refusing to leave, since they don’t have access to proper housing.

Travis Hals, one of the campers in the Downtown Eastside knew that a big change was going to happen.

“The last few weeks they’ve been blocking off like a block at a time for the past few months and clearing out all the tents at once,” said Hals.

He did mention that people were walking around and offering others shelter and housing.

Hals felt that there could have been ways to handle it better, but given the situation it seemed impossible.

” I’m not sure how they could have done that by handing out some sort of form saying that on this day you have to have your stuff moved” said Hals.

Police shut down a portion of Hastings street to remove tents that were set up overnight. Photo credit: Nicholas Naylor
Travis Hals was warned of the police-led shut down of Hastings street, he decided to move his belongings before the police removed him. Photo credit: Nicholas Naylor
A man who was told to leave Hastings street by the VPD is swarmed by members of the press. Photo credit: Nicholas Naylor
City workers washing the streets with a hose after the portion of Hastings was shut down and cleared of overnight camp setups following the previous days evictions. Photo credit: Nicholas Naylor
A police line blocked people from entering Hastings street between Main street and Gore avenue, as the VPD removed people and their tents from the area. Photo credit: Nicholas Naylor
A woman on the police line this morning at Main Street and East Hastings street, where people who set up tents were asked to leave. Photo credit: Ty Lim
Garbage trucks were brought to police closure between Main Street and Gore Avenue to dispose of any belonging that residents of the tent sites left behind. Photo credit: Nicholas Naylor
Police blocked the sidewalk on Main Street while City of Vancouver employees approached those in tents to eventually remove them from the area. Photo credit: Ty Lim

 

 

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