Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighbourhood is in the grip of a “humanitarian crisis” of crime and violence that has reached a tipping point, Mayor Ken Sim said as he unveiled a taskforce to tackle organized crime.

Vancouver’s mayor and police chief trumpeted a plan Thursday to boost police funding with a specific focus on the Downtown Eastside. At a news conference Thursday at City Hall, Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer and Mayor Ken Sim announced what they called a “long-term initiative to dismantle organized crime.

The mayor and the police chief have announced a new task force they say will target organized crime and predatory criminals operating in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

A K9 unit was used to help arrest a 30-year-old man with a gun in downtown Vancouver last night, Feb. 6. The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) also needed "less-lethal" rubber bullets to detain the suspect, who was the subject of a Canada-wide warrant.

Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood is in the grip of a "humanitarian crisis" of crime and violence that has reached a tipping point, the city's mayor said, as he unveiled a taskforce to tackle organized crime.

Vancouver's mayor and police chief are launching "Task Force Barrage" to target crime and clean up the Downtown Eastside. Rumina Daya reports.