Without an explanation from an expert to understand the sharp increase in Vancouver police files related to potential national security threats, the statistics alone seem shocking: From 14 files investigated in 2012 to 262 in 2014.
And police say there are on pace this year to investigate another couple hundred calls in Vancouver where officers follow up on reported suspicious activity, which could include an abandoned package in a public place to purchases of chemicals to tips on alleged terror plots.
But as members of the VPD's criminal intelligence unit explained in an interview, the statistics don't represent the whole story or explain how an increase in calls is actually a good thing.
"We are getting more calls and a very small amount of those calls really result in anything that needs to be taken to a higher level," said Insp. Mike Serr, when asked if the public should be concerned about the spike in statistics. "Vancouver's safe. It is a safe place and we've got a lot of people working to ensure it remains safe."
Serr and two of his officers, detective constables Colin Small and Ian Jackson, attribute the increase in calls to two main factors: A heightened vigilance by the public about potential terrorist threats, citing recent plots to detonate bombs at the B.C. Legislature and the murder of reservist Cpl. Nathan Cirillo in 2014 at the cenotaph in Ottawa; and the relaunch of a VPD-led counterterrorism program dubbed Operation Securus, which trains businesses to report suspicious activity to police.
"No one should be alarmed by these numbers," Serr said of the statistics, which he also believes can be attributed to the ongoing training of officers in counterterrorism. "We want the public to be engaged, we want them to be aware, we want them to phone us — even if it's something that appears to be inane or not serious — and we'll take a look at it."
Serr said the vast majority of calls turn out to be nothing of significance, citing an example where a person is observed taking photographs of a building.
"It may turn out just to be a tourist who just happened to be interested in taking pictures," he said, but declined to discuss any cases that led to higher level investigations.
As Canadians learned two years ago, something insignificant could turn out to be a tip that thwarts a disaster, as Jackson pointed out with what occurred in the well-publicized plot in 2013 of two men in Ontario planning to derail a VIA passenger train travelling between the U.S. and Canada.
"If an employee hadn't spotted the [suspects] videotaping, and that information hadn't come forward to the police, they probably would have been successful," said Jackson of the case, which led to two men found guilty of a series of terror-related charges. "That's what Operation Securus is about — it's about that phone call being placed."
Operation Securus has more than 100 Vancouver businesses involved and includes the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the RCMP, Natural Resources Canada and the Abbotsford and Delta police departments. The program is designed to locate and catalogue businesses such as Home Depot, Harbour Air, rental car companies and port businesses that sell products or offer services that could be used by a person or groups to commit terrorism.
The VPD's role is to search out potential threats, which involves following up on calls from businesses and the public. Officers do that by delivering presentations on how to identify suspicious customers and activity, and reminding them of the real threat to the West Coast.
"The big problem for us is that people forget and they think it's not going to happen in B.C.," said Small, rattling off a history of terrorism in the province, including the plotting of the Air India disaster, the Squamish Five bombings and Michael Zehaf-Bibeau's links to B.C. before he murdered Cirillo in Ottawa.
Media reports over the past couple of years have identified Canadians in Ontario and Alberta who travelled overseas to fight on behalf of Islamist terror group, ISIS. Small wouldn't say whether police have identified any Vancouverites who joined ranks with ISIS but said "it would be foolish to think that it's not going to affect Canada, that it's not going to affect British Columbia and it's not going to affect Vancouver. That's why we're trying to take these steps now to try and identify individuals or groups as early as possible, look for those pre-indicators, those signs."
Eric Scott, vice-president of flight operations and safety at Harbour Air, said the seaplane company joined Operation Securus more than a year ago. Scott said he sees the partnership with police as a "corporate responsibility" and is glad other businesses signed on to the program.
"Events might be singular when we're just dealing with it ourselves but show trends when you bring other businesses in," Scott said. "So the whole concept of it appealed to us. It does heighten our awareness and allows us an avenue to move on [suspicious activity] and be part of that group rather than making a cold call to police."
He said the company has reported files to police a couple of times related to Operation Securus but declined to disclose details. Scott, however, said he didn't believe police found anything significant in the investigations.
@Howellings
