A Vancouver Police and City of Vancouver crime prevention initiative, aimed at strengthening door frames to make it more difficult for thieves to break into homes, has become a new city bylaw. It is now mandatory to add a metal plate to the back side of door frames for new construction and renovations to residential dwellings.

“This is a very simple change that will make a big difference,” says Sergeant Jason Robillard, Media Relations Officer, VPD. “Last year, forced entry break-and-enters accounted for 38 per cent of all break-and-enters in the city.”

The change was initiated by VPD Constable Ryan Hooper last year after he noticed, when investigating residential break-and-enters, that more door frames were splitting open during forced entries. “We were seeing some commonalities of the door frame splitting open upon forced entries and initiated a project to find a solution,” says Constable Hooper.

The VPD partnered with City of Vancouver building inspectors and code engineers to come up with a cost-effective and easy-to-implement strategy. The metal plates cost about $5 each.

“The City of Vancouver’s Building Inspections department is extremely pleased to have collaborated with Vancouver Police Department on this work. The new bylaw is a low-cost solution that will protect properties and prove more cost-effective in the long run,” said Pat Ryan, Chief Building Inspector, City of Vancouver.

On November 1, 2017, Vancouver City Council passed a bylaw to supplement the Building Code to have make the metal plates mandatory in door frames for all new builds and renovations moving forward.