Vancouver Park Board rangers to patrol seawall until 11 p.m.
Enhanced Stanley Park presence comes days after Lubomir Kunik's body discovered
The Vancouver Park Board says park rangers will patrol the seawall from dusk until 11 p.m. in response to two apparent random attacks in Stanley Park.
"We're specifically assigning a two person crew to spend time on the seawall and in some of the trails in the park just to let people know that they should be more than normally aware of what's taking place around them," said Howard Normann, director of parks for the Vancouver Park Board.
We’re working with <a href="https://twitter.com/VancouverPD">@VancouverPD</a> to enhance park safety. Park Rangers will now be patrolling <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/seawall?src=hash">#seawall</a> from dusk until 11pm. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StanleyPark?src=hash">#StanleyPark</a> <a href="https://t.co/t43GivgOj2">pic.twitter.com/t43GivgOj2</a>
—@ParkBoardIn November 2016, an 82-year-old man was severely injured and left in his car in a parking lot near Brockton Oval.
Three months later, 61-year-old Lubomir Kunik's body was discovered on the seawall between Second Beach and Third Beach.
He's been described as an amateur photographer who was likely in the park taking pictures of the night sky.
A few days after the body was found, Vancouver police issued a public warning about the two incidences, encouraging anyone visiting the park at night to not do so alone and to report any suspicious activity to 911.
Public Warning: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VPD?src=hash">#VPD</a> urging extra caution for anyone visiting Stanley Park at night <a href="https://t.co/oKg2J2umfG">https://t.co/oKg2J2umfG</a> following two recent attacks.
—@VancouverPDThe Parks Board says its rangers on enhanced patrols, which are an hour longer than usual for this time of year, will also notify park users about the police warning.
A small all-terrain vehicle is also being specifically outfitted with lights so it can be used on patrols to get into more remote areas. Rangers currently use a small pick-up truck, which fits on most trails.
Normann says the Park Board has not decided on how long to conduct the special patrols.
"This is new for us to be dedicated just to [Stanley Park] for those hours so we'll get some numbers and see how many people are actually in the park that late and judge it from there," he said.
As police continue to investigate he is asking people to consider exploring other areas along the seawall away from where the attacks took place.