If you’ve been following Eastside Stories, you might be familiar with my friend the Ice Cream Man. I first wrote about him before Christmas, after we shared a two a.m. heart-to-heart outside th...
4,600 intravenous drug users live in the Downtown Eastside 587 drug injections happen daily at the Supervised Injection Site; this includes people who return multiple times a day 20 per cent of peopl...
The following is a contribution by fellow Beat Enforcement Team member Tyler Urquhart, inspired by some of the people he’s met along Hastings Street. He says it’s “kind of a poem.&#...
“Tap, Tap, Tap.” I jolted up, and nearly spilled a half cup of lukewarm Tim Horton’s double-double into my lap. They train you at the police academy to always be alert when you’re on the street. They...
Tonight was the opening night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which got me thinking about our beloved Canucks’ run from a year ago — and about the riot that followed the team’s Game 7 ...
… and Namibia … and even Afghanistan. One of my greatest pleasures — almost as great as fighting crime and late-night blogging — is getting the month-end stats for Eastside St...
Crack users on the Downtown Eastside are now being given crack-smoking kits, complete with lighters, pipes, filters and instructions on how to smoke crack. The boxes — they’re about the s...
Police work is dangerous business, but sometimes the most dangerous situations come not when we’re chasing bad guys, but after they’ve already been caught. And in the Downtown Eastside, w...
A few dozen cop critics took over Main and Hastings during rush hour Thursday for an anti-police brutality rally. This picture was taken from the roof of the Empress Hotel by Matt Shewchuk. Matt is ...
I like to run. Mainly I’m built for distance, but I can also move pretty quick if the adrenaline’s pumping. And though it’s been close at times, I’m proud to say that I’...
Because I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Because two-day weekends suck. Because every now and then someone tells me I made a difference. Because I hate bullies. Because I hate cheaters. Becau...
People sometimes ask me if what we’re doing in the Downtown Eastside makes a difference — if I’ve noticed any changes for the better since I’ve been down here. Truth is, it...
It’s the first of the month, which means moving day on the Downtown Eastside. This fellow got more than his share of strange looks from rush-hour drivers as he lugged his mattress past the Carn...
Today was one of those days when I just couldn’t pull myself out of bed. I managed a glorious 10 hours of shut-eye — about double my normal. When I finally forced myself out from under th...
I’m usually a pretty even-keeled guy. Few things really get me amped up, and working in the Downtown Eastside for the past few years, not much really surprises me anymore. But I’ll admit ...
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I’m continuously amazed and inspired at the work the folks from Odd Squad do to educate the world about the dangers of drug experimentation. In this short clip, Odd Squad co-founder Sgt. Toby H...
The paper cup had barely touched my lips when the warble sounded on the police radio, warning of a serious crime in progress. I’d been craving this Tim Horton’s Double-Double for hours. But for now i...
…a 3 a.m. conversation between a beat cop and random Downtown Eastside resident. Beat Cop: “How old are you ma’am?” DTES Resident: “I’m 61.” Beat Cop: “...
Dan and I were skulking around a few nights ago when we came across this young fellow lurking behind a dumpster in the lane behind Insite. High on crystal meth and in some kind of drug psychosis, he ...
Another addict died alone tonight, in a Downtown Eastside room. Another sad, pathetic, wasted life, taken by the needle and spoon. Share
0745 hrs – Alarm clock jolts me from a four-hour sleep. I feel hungover, but I haven’t been drinking. I stumble to the coffee maker and trip over the cat. Why do they always schedule cour...
Fred Herzog – 1958 If you haven’t heard the name Fred Herzog, you’ve likely seen some of his iconic photographs. This one looks east from the corner of Hastings and Columbia streets...
From free crack pipes to free booze, to designs for another drug injection site, there was no shortage of fodder in the news about the Downtown Eastside this week. I’ve been a little lax on my...
A frequent target for mischief, theft and vandalism, this phone booth is one of the last ones left on the Downtown Eastside. Obviously, its seen better times, and these days its more often used as sh...
I wish I had something profound to say about this giant seagull, but unfortunately it’s just a giant seagull. I heard him cawing outside a second storey window at the old police station at 312 ...
On the damp concrete sidewalk just beyond the steps of the First United Church, a native man is splayed over a soggy piece of cardboard next to a bus stop. The glass walls of the bus shelter are long...
I bumped into my friend, the ice-cream man, a couple hours ago. He was swinging a loaf of French bread in his left hand and balancing a tinfoil-wrapped paper plate in his right when I spotted him sta...
It’s now been more than a week since anyone has seen or heard from Matthew Huszar. Posters like this one have been stapled to just about every telephone pole and lamp post on the Downtown Easts...
…a conversation between Chief Jim Chu and Sarah, age 6, during a Downtown Eastside charity function. Sarah: “Is it true that you are the chief for all of the police in Vancouver?” C...
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