Park marred by graffiti

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

Last Saturday, anti-Semitic graffiti was found all over Moodyville Park in North Vancouver. On poles, rocks, plaques and other places near the children's playground were sprayed swastikas, the letters SS and such phrases as "Heil Hitler. Be racist."

RCMP Const. Michael McLaughlin told the Independent that the police received a complaint from a North Vancouver resident on Saturday and they "came right in and started an investigation." In a situation like this, he said, the police document what is seen at the scene, speak with everyone involved and immediately look for any witnesses and/or suspects. Since that day, Oct. 13, the RCMP has started liaising with its partners: the hate crimes unit in E Division, described by McLaughlin as the B.C. version of the RCMP, and a graffiti liaison officer in North Vancouver "that compiles all the graffiti and finds similarities, sees if we can cross-reference and identify [it]," he explained, "and, after speaking with our liaison, we're actually also going to be liaising with Vancouver police, their hate crime and their graffiti liaison, as well. In this sort of investigation, you start small; you start with the immediate and branch out from there.

"Even though we don't have any suspects or witnesses," he continued, "we don't believe, as the RCMP, that any form of racial intolerance is acceptable. We're going to investigate it fully and if, indeed, suspects can be identified, there is a strong likelihood of some form of charges."

McLaughlin admitted that the search for suspects will be difficult, but that the RCMP would do all that it can to find the person(s) responsible.

"North Vancouver is generally a very safe and tolerant area," he added. "There are a lot of different ethnic backgrounds, people from different countries who live in North Vancouver and, for the most part, people get along really well.... We don't usually see a lot of intolerance here and perhaps that's why people in the neighborhood are, understandably, upset [by the graffiti], because they're not used to seeing this sort of thing."

According to a Sunday report by Darlene Heidemann on Global B.C. News Hour, several North Vancouverites went quickly to work covering the offensive writings with spray paint – not wanting to wait till city crews could come out to the park on Monday.

McLaughlin stressed that the RCMP "don't have any information to suggest that there is a physical threat behind these unacceptable words. We don't have any instances of assaults or verbal threats or anonymous threats or anything like that – nothing specific," he said. "On the other hand, it's always important for us, as police, to be co-operating with the community and one of the best things that the community can do is keep their eyes and ears open.

"If you witness things that you don't find acceptable, that you think are offensive, that you think might be racist or related to hate," continued McLaughlin, "call us immediately and we'll come in and start an investigation or, at least, provide you [with] information. So, be our eyes and ears. Be careful, but, at the same time, we don't have any reason to believe that there's any real threat to this right now, beyond the offensive words themselves."

Mira Oreck, director of Canadian Jewish Congress Pacific Region, praised the North Vancouver RCMP on the way in which they are handling this incident.
"Unfortunately, this is not the first time our community has been the target of hateful acts," said Oreck, "[but] most right-minded Vancouverites, or Canadians, view these [acts] as contrary to Canadian values.... We should always bring out, or call upon, those that have undertaken these acts and bring them to light. I would commend the RCMP for attempting to do so."

Oreck said CJCPR will work with law enforcement as it tries to find suspects in this case and that CJCPR will remain vigilant on hate-related issues.

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