'We can't prepare for everything': Vancouver police discuss threat of vehicle attacks

Vehicle attacks are exceedingly difficult to prevent, and, as demonstrated by Monday's tragedy in Toronto that left 10 people dead and many more injured, they can have brutal outcomes.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) has been incorporating the threat of vehicle attacks in its security planning for large scale public events.

"We do have heavy vehicle barriers that we have used recently, as part of our planning and preparations and execution of our operations plans for large crowd events," said VPD Sgt. Jason Robillard on Tuesday.

"You may have seen those in Canada Day celebrations, Celebration of Light — we've used these recently."

The barriers have been popping up at various events in the city.

At last summer's Celebration of Light fireworks displays, which drew hundreds of thousands of people to the area around English Bay, dump trucks blocked the street approaching the main spectator zone.

Heavily armed officers stationed themselves between the trucks.

Andrea Arnot, the executive director of the Vancouver Pride Society, is responsible for another massive event that draws similar numbers of people the city's West End — the Pride Parade. She's been watching the situation in Toronto from afar.

"It's a little unsettling and a little frightening," said Arnot. "It definitely gives one pause, thinking about personal safety, even just walking down the street, doing your thing."

Arnot started her role in 2016, not long after the Pulse shooting in Orlando, Fla., where a gunman killed 49 people at the gay nightclub, leaving members of the LGBT community on edge everywhere. She remembers feeling a heightened awareness of safety issues at public events after that.

"Since I started, there's definitely been extra safety precautions taken for the parade and other big events that we do," said Arnot.

She said that a lot of the security planning for the Vancouver Pride Parade can't be shared publicly, but last year there were heavy vehicles serving as barriers at points along the route, along with a police presence.

But as Arnot noted, the Toronto attack was unrelated to any large event — the victims were just walking along the sidewalk.

"The victims had no control over that situation," she said

Asked about the idea of installing permanent barriers in strategic areas to keep pedestrians safe, Robillard wouldn't say much.

"I do know there have been discussions for that ... those kinds of things, we wouldn't share with the public," he said. "We know we can't prepare for everything, but we'll do our best."

"From a policing perspective, the only thing we can say ... when you're out in the public, be aware of your surroundings as best as you can," said Robillard, adding that cell phones can be an easy distraction to avoid. 

"Don't have your head down. Be aware of where you are and what you're doing."

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