Port Moody Police drove home their "no call too small" motto at an impromptu town hall meeting Monday night held in response to the city's third homicide since June.
What was originally planned as a rally by a Facebook group called Port Moody Families Against Violence turned into a panel discussion that included members of the PoMo and Vancouver police departments, who emphasized the need to report suspicious behaviour.
"A lot of people are hesitant to call us because maybe it's the middle of the night," said PMPD Deputy Chief Const. Chris Rattenbury. "Please, don't worry about bothering us. If you see anything suspicious, the sooner we can get there, the better."
The meeting drew about 60 people, many of them families with young children, who expressed concerns about the safety of their community after the trio of murders in just over three months.
In late May, Bin Toor, a 35-year-old man with connections to the Dhak-Duhre gang, was gunned down outside the PoMo rec centre.
Later that month, Randy Naicker, a 34-year-old Burnaby resident and one of the founders of the Independent Soldiers gang, was shot in broad daylight in the Queens Street plaza parking lot, where he lay for several hours covered by a white sheet.
Both were targeted shootings of people who just happened to be in Port Moody at the time they were killed.
"We have absolutely no evidence they chose Port Moody specifically" for the killings, said VPD Insp. Brad Desmarais.
On Saturday morning, Joseph Markel, 32, also with ties to the Dhak-Duhre gang, was shot outside his parents' Glenayre home. Police say the victim, a longtime PoMo resident, was well known to them and his death was also a targeted hit.
PoMo resident Debbie Delisser questioned why there has been little to no progress reported on the murders.
"It's incredibly hard to believe these people can shoot someone in broad daylight, with lots of witnesses... and they're getting away with it," she said.
Information about possible suspects would go a long way in easing the community's fears, Delisser added.
Desmarais said there are teams of eight to 12 investigators from the integrated homicide unit working on each murder.
"That is an incredibly resource-intensive investigation and we are moving forward and they are very active," he said.
"Our goal is to ensure a conviction, not just know who the guy is," added Sgt. Randy Fincham, media spokesperson for the VPD.
Police must also protect the witnesses, particularly the suspects' friends and family, who are already reluctant to talk.
"And sometimes we just don't want the bad guys to know what we know," said Desmarais. "We can't risk endangering our investigations or slowing them down, though I understand this is extremely frustrating."
It was little comfort for Delisser, who moved from Kitimat five years ago and says she's disappointed to feel unsafe in her new community.
"I'm discouraged but I don't want those little jerks to control our lives," Delisser said. She still goes to the rec centre, which she'd left just minutes before Toor was killed, but finds she's constantly checking her surroundings and cautioning her 19-year-old daughter to be careful.
Another woman who spoke at the meeting said she doesn't want to have to explain to her children why there's a dead body on the street.
"Those are pictures you can't delete from your mind," she said, "and that's what makes me feel not safe right now."
Mayor Mike Clay said the city is looking at improving safety at the rec centre parking lot through changes to the layout and landscaping.
"We take all these events very seriously," he said. "These gang turf wars are very troubling and despicable, and I don't like it happening in our community or in any community."
Desmarais said parents need to know what their children are doing and be actively engaged in their lives.
"Prevention starts in the home," he said.
