Firefighters and paramedics will no longer respond to the 900-block of Pandora Avenue without police, after an incident Thursday evening where a paramedic was hurt while attending to a patient and first responders were swarmed.
The decision came in a Friday meeting involving Victoria Police Chief Del Manak, Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto and leaders from the Victoria Fire Department and B.C. Emergency Health Services.
Manak said in a statement the new measures will create “significant workload pressures on VicPD and reduce timeliness of medical response, in situations where every second counts.”
On Thursday, Pandora was closed off by police vehicles with at least a dozen emergency vehicles and about 20 officers on the scene, including the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team.
The incident began about 7:50 p.m. when paramedics were flagged down to help a man needing medical assistance.
Police said during the response, a paramedic was kicked in the face by the man and fled toward a fire truck with the man in pursuit.
After he ignored police orders to stop, officers used a conductive-energy weapon on the man, who was arrested.
Victoria City Police Union president Angela Van Eerd, a constable with VicPD, said the man became violent while being arrested. When a crowd of about 60 people closed in, one Victoria firefighter held an axe to his chest as a shield, she said.
Every Victoria officer on shift was called in, and Oak Bay, Saanich and Central Saanich police were asked to respond, Van Eerd said. West Shore and Sidney/North Saanich RCMP also came. Van Eerd described the scene as “a very hostile environment,” and said it’s the third time this year that officers have been swarmed. One of the previous incidents was also in the 900-block of Pandora, outside Our Place, while the other was in Rock Bay, she said.
The paramedic was taken to hospital in stable condition, while two officers sustained minor injuries and were not hospitalized.
Van Eerd called the level of violence faced by first responders such as police, firefighters and paramedics, particularly in the 900-block of Pandora, “completely unacceptable and appalling.”
“I believe the city is responsible for this happening and the city needs to answer to it.”
Victoria Firefighters’ Association president Jeremy Wilson said the outcome Thursday “could have been much worse” within seconds, but police arrived just in time.
Wilson said it isn’t unusual for firefighters to face verbal abuse and spitting when they respond to incidents. “There is a lot of abuse that happens and it has escalated in the last five years significantly.”
Manak said that the violence and aggression experienced by first responders has escalated over the last several months and is unacceptable.
“The incident from Pandora Avenue [Thursday] may feel like a wake-up call, but it only reflects one piece of the trend our front-line officers have been experiencing,” he said in a statement, adding the problem isn’t limited to the 900-block of Pandora.
In an incident in the 500-block of Ellice Street on June 17, a “large number of community members surrounded and threw rocks at officers, creating a volatile situation,” he said.
Manak said the VicPD senior leadership team will meet next week to ensure there is a comprehensive strategy to address safety concerns in the area, including “a marked increase in the visible police presence in the 900-block of Pandora Avenue as we rebuild relationships with our street community.”
In the meantime, there will be “a high degree of vigilance” when officers are deployed in areas of concern, he said. “Officers and other first responders have every right to feel safe during the course of their duties, and to return home safely at the end of their shift.”
Our Place spokesperson Grant McKenzie said staff “were devastated by the news that someone was injured.”
“We’re also devastated by the fact that the individual who’s involved in the alleged attack is a young man who suffers with a brain injury that we’ve been begging for help for for months.”
A witness told the Times Colonist that the man who attacked the paramedic had had a seizure and started attacking people in his confusion after he came to.
The witness said the man is prone to seizures, which result in a subsequent feeling of disorientation, and would feel awful when he realized what he had done.
McKenzie said that outreach workers are in contact with people on Pandora every day and have tried hard to get the man some assistance.
“They were basically told that they had to wait until something bad happened,” he said. “And now something bad has happened.”
A paramedic has been hurt and the suspect could face prison, he said. “This is not the result that anybody wanted.”
McKenzie has estimated that about 90 people are currently staying along Pandora near Our Place.
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto said in a statement Friday that first responders handled “an extreme situation” with professionalism on Thursday.
“I am thankful that the paramedic is recovering from their injuries,” she said. “Thank you to police from our neighbouring municipalities, who came to help ensure the situation resolved without further injury.”
While first responders are trained to deal with dangerous events, “it is never OK for [them] to themselves be under attack while they are saving lives,” said Alto. “This incident is under investigation by VicPD, and I will continue to work with them and all our first responders on next steps.”
Alto said she continues to urge the provincial government to recognize the challenges facing municipalities “as we respond to the urgent issues of homelessness, mental health and addictions that are impacting Victoria and the rest of B.C., precipitated by gaps in health and housing programs and services.”
Hayden Hamlyn has been charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer in connection with the Thursday incident.
He remains in custody pending a court date
