More Vancouver Police officers were deployed across the city on Monday as the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks.
Sgt. Steve Addison with Vancouver Police said a number of planned and unplanned events are expected to occur, and officers have stepped up patrols to make sure everyone stays safe.
“We have to acknowledge that there is a lot of emotion in the community,” Addison said.
“There is a lot of fear and anxiety today on the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks. We are here to provide a sense of calm, safety and reassurance to the community by providing a visible police presence not only here at the Jewish Community Center through our mobile command center but anywhere.” Another in the community.
Uniformed school liaison officers have also been deployed along with emergency response team members to prominent locations throughout the city, Addison said.
He added: “Our goal is to maintain calm, peace and reassurance in the community at a time when people feel uncomfortable.”
Addison said there were several events over the weekend, including thousands of people gathering on Saturday and marching through the streets of Vancouver.
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He said there were no serious incidents, but noted that there were some incidents in which officers had to intervene to prevent people from breaking the peace or inciting violence.
Addison added that the heavy presence of officers across the city on Monday was to maintain calm and provide safety and reassurance.
The surprise attacks killed more than 1,200 Israelis, making them the deadliest in the country’s history.
Two hundred and fifty Israelis were kidnapped and held hostage.
Protests were held across Israel on Monday, with thousands gathering at the site of a music festival where many were killed.
The Hamas attack led to an Israeli counterattack in Gaza, which continues to this day.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, more than 41,000 people have died there since then.
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