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“People that have businesses in the area, a lot of them are locally-owned, a lot of them are independently owned,” he said. “They care about Commercial Drive to a huge degree so when customers are affected in this way, it affects our businesses.”

Pogor said he worries people facing mental illness, addiction and homelessness aren’t getting the attention given to those in the Downtown Eastside, and said businesses are concerned that police, health workers and outreach workers don’t have the means to reach the people who are getting into trouble.

“Their manpower, their resources are taxed,” he said. “They need additional funding and I think the will of the people, the residents is there (to) start caring a little bit more about what’s happening in our neighbourhoods.”

Vancouver police said they take the community’s concerns seriously. In recent weeks, they have bolstered resources in the area, increasing the presence of their youth squad and youth detectives, Sgt. Jason Robillard said. Officers will be doing highly-visible foot patrols and working with community police officers. All are sharing information.

“We’ve got all hands on deck for now, looking at this,” said Robillard, adding that police are also working with local businesses on permanent fixes.

“We want to work with the community to come up with a long-term approach, especially going into the hot summer months,” he said.

“You’ve got youth hanging around with nothing to do. We have these crimes where they’re a nuisance and crimes of boredom.”