Rioting in Vancouver Tonight

[westsideconnect]

As far as I know the Canucks organization had no involvement in the planning of that street party. Unless they did, they should have no responsibility. Their responsibility is to put an entertaining product on the ice and they have done that for many seasons now.

[johngould21]

<br />As far as I know the Canucks organization had no involvement in the planning of that street party.  Unless they did, they should have no responsibility.  Their responsibility is to put an entertaining product on the ice and they have done that for many seasons now.<br />

[old_time_hockey]

What a loser hitting a firefighter..

His name is Dustin Anderson and guess where he's from?

Surrey.

[SNACanuck]

How on earth are the Canucks responsible? It was the Mayor and City that refused to allocate funding to the Chief of Police and the VPD. That's like blaming a beer company for someone getting in a car and getting a DUI. The rioters chose to do it, nowhere did the Canucks organization condone or enrourage it. Heck they were just worried about winning the SCF not riot control or prevention.

[old_time_hockey]

There were a number of sites taking images off Facebook and preserving them. Call the VPD and give them all the information that you have.

[Wetcoaster]

Perhaps. You'd have to be pretty drunk to be that stupid too.

[Electro Rock]

Hitting a firefighter is pretty lame. I was kind of hoping to see a group from the crowd come and give that loser a beating.

[The Brahma Bull]

This was posted a few minutes ago from that Riot Pictures group

If anybody has any pictures or video of the altercation involving a teenage girl getting punched in the face or of the young man getting stabbed (by the same guys) PLEASE send them in to the police. Her jaw is now wired shut for the next three weeks because a group of guys thought this would be the appropriate forum for punching girls and stabbing people they don't know.

[hockeyislife4]

lol

[M N B]

Unfortunately it us easier to get a high profile million dollar corporation to foot the bill than it is to chase after faceless, penniless morons that have zero accountability for anything.

Seems to be the way the world works nowadays.

[LeopardGecko]

I think Russell is right. Assuming he actually feels that way, the last commercial building that somebody leaves before engaging in illegal actions SHOULD BE REQUIRED by law, and by the logic of Russell, to pay for ALL damages that occur.

[-SN-]

This isn't really news; we all know what his agenda is.

[johngould21]

<br />I think Russell is right. Assuming he actually feels that way, the last commercial building that somebody leaves before engaging in illegal actions SHOULD BE REQUIRED by law, and by the logic of Russell, to pay for ALL damages that occur.<br />

[old_time_hockey]

And then THEY would get in trouble because of all the people with cameras and a cowardly rat mentality. I actually expect the chick who's BMW got trashed to get charged with assault for trying to defend her property, LOL!

[-DLC-]

Were his comments tongue in cheek and aimed at highlighting how stupid this proposal is? I sure hope so.

If not, I want every team writing cheques to offset the idiots in their towns. Boston will go broke.

[What_Is_A_Jim]

I am from a small town in Saskatchewan and just got the pleasure of visiting a city that was home to a team that i hold so near and dear to my heart. I arrived on sunday at 2 pm and when i caught the first look of that city that only thing that slipped out of my mouth was "wow". I was taken back by the landscape and beauty of the province and city. I arrived with 2 other Saskatchewan friends and we took to the where we were greeted with open arms by strangers who made us feel right at home. We viewed game 6 on Geogria St, even the outcome was not what we hoped for i enjoyed every minute of it i was still in disbelief where i was we went out for some more drinks that night will some Sask natives that had moved to Vancouver not to long ago and had a night of endless fun. Morning of game seven woke up early and stared at the city from the beauty view we had because the next morning i had to fly back home. I watch game 7 at moxie's bar that was overlooking where i had viewed game 6 before i was so excited surrounded by fans that were so passionate about there like myself. When the game ended i filled with saddness and almost brought to tears but then i heard a fan i was talking to early shouting across that bar "Presidents Trophy people we still have lots to be proud of" smile came across my face as i nodded back at the fan. Then on all the tvs there breaking news of fans rioting i now was at my lowest point i was in disbelieve that local people were doing so much distruction to a city i was just blown away by. Now the loss was no longer a worry i was praying the would get this stopped before more damage occured then i looked outside and i see another flame start. I was so upset to see all this happening we were not allowed to leave Moxie's until 1:00am. In closing i just want to thank all the true canucks fans and Vancouver locals for making my first trip there a great one with a terrifying end. I applaud those who helped clean up the streets it was a selfless act that will never be forgotten even though i am not from Vancouver what those people did for Vancouver really made me proud. So thank you all and i will be coming back very soon maybe even to call it home some day. GO CANUCKS GO

[johngould21]

<br />Were his comments tongue in cheek and aimed at highlighting how stupid this proposal is?  I sure hope so.<br /><br />If not, I want every team writing cheques to offset the idiots in their towns.  Boston will go broke.<br />

[Sharpshooter]

What is this...1984?

[Wetcoaster]

Questions are now being asked about how the riot was handled by VPD, the Vancouver Police Board (chaired by the Mayor) and the City of Vancouver - from planning, strategy, intelligence gathering, deployment and tactics employed.

The problem I have was that when things did start up to heat up (pun intended) near the Canada Post the police did not immediately intervene and order that group to disperse. That group appeared to fuel the moronic mob mentality and it spread from there. Cut off the source of the imitative behaviour quickly would seem to be the proper tactic.

Compare this to the 2010 Olympics crowd control and the head of the Vancouver Police Union claims the police were massively understaffed for this task on Wednesday:

Police struggling to control an Olympic-sized crowd with a fraction of the officers available during the 2010 Games faced an impossible task, the head of the Vancouver Police Union said.

"If you want to manage a crowd like that effectively without having it turn into a riot, then we need probably 5,000 police officers, not the five or six or 700 police officers we had out there [Wednesday] night," Tom Stamatakis said in an interview. "You need to really step up in terms of physical resources throughout the crowd and keep a lid on things."

During the Olympics, there was a security team of 15,300, which included 6,000 police officers from across Canada and 4,500 members of the Canadian military.

The Vancouver police department would not say exactly how many officers were downtown Wednesday night when the violence broke out.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Police+grossly+understaffed+Game+union/4969234/story.html#ixzz1PeBvGeEU

If there were anarchists and known instigators mixed in the crowd as alleged (and according to Police Chief Jim Chu they were aware of the tactic and knew the identity of these individuals based on past interaction) the police had the power at that point to immediately take those individuals into custody under several provisions of the Criminal Code (apprehended breach of the peace, unlawful assembly, riot participant). I have experience working criminal intelligence and the police will have such information.

It also concerns me when the police chief and mayor's rep both claim there will not be a riot just before things erupt. It would seem to be a little bit of the iron fist in the iron glove threat might have been more effective - "If you do this we will respond and respond with the full force of the law."

As reported:

“There’s not going to be a riot.”

Those were the words of Police Chief Jim Chu a few hours before the puck dropped at Rogers Arena Wednesday night.

He spoke to the Courier after a Vancouver Police Board meeting at the Cambie Street police station, where the board had discussed policing the Vancouver Canucks playoff run.

“Whether win or lose, we’ll get through it,” the chief added.

Then it was city manager Penny Ballem’s turn.

Standing near the intersection of Richards and Georgia, wearing a Canucks jersey and connected to her cellphone via earphones, she downplayed the possibility of a riot.

At the time, the Boston Bruins were up 3-0 and crowds of dejected fans were heading up Georgia Street past Ballem. They were leaving the so-called fan zones where tens of thousands watched the game on huge screens positioned around the CBC building and Vancouver Public Library.

Are you concerned the 1994 Stanley Cup riot will repeat itself?

“This city has matured so much since then,” Ballem said of the riot that occurred after the Canucks lost to the New York Rangers in another Game 7. “We’ve really learned a lot and I think there’s a very different sense of how important it is not to do that. This is a big crowd and there’re a lot of people downtown. We’re being very careful but I don’t think anyone thinks there’s going to be anything like that.”

Added Ballem: “Already you see people are not thrilled that we’re losing but they’re not all losing it themselves.”

http://www.vancourier.com/Predictions+from+Vancouver+police+chief+city+manager+smoke/4957572/story.html#ixzz1Pe3Tagkq

To me such remarks indicate a lack of preparation or proper apprehension of what could occur and as result the requisite planning for worst case scenario was not the strategy employed. The control strategy depends upon sufficient boots on the ground and the ability to move to control "hot spots" according to an expert who reported on what went wrong in 1994 in a comprehensive report with extensive recommendations.

The police chief seemed to first admit he miscalculated but now has backtracked when he realized that admission could strike at the issue of his ability to do his job. The Mayor also said the riot was not anticipated. REALLY???

How about this?

Riots following big sporting events have become predictable. They happen about half the time following a championship game or series, the experts say.

What's more, sports riots are now the most common type of riot in North America.

Yet here is what we get from the top officials charged with handling such things.

Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu said he would have had more officers out if he had anticipated the riot. When trouble broke out, a group of police leaders quickly decided to dispatch RCMP officers from the suburbs to reinforce city police in the downtown core.

Bob Whitelaw, who made more than 100 recommendations for British Columbia's attorney-general and the British Columbia Police Commission after the 1994 Stanley Cup riot, said police in Vancouver were lulled into a sense of security because things went well during the earlier playoff games and during the Olympics.

"The first six games set the police up in a complacency mode: 'Everything is going well, everybody's having a good time, let's back off.' Apathy then came into the play: 'Let's just let them have fun.' And then denial that anything was going to happen, and boy, it sure unravelled [Wednesday] night," Whitelaw said.

He said police were too slow to intervene, and there may not have been enough of a police presence downtown.

"I saw more police standing around waiting for instruction," Whitelaw said. "What they could've done was to be more proactive."

...

But Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson was insistent there was no advance warning that troublemakers were planning to disrupt the celebrations.

"I had no prior knowledge of the potential chaos and organizing by troublemakers. The Police Board and council had no advance information that this was possible."

If they had, the police would have acted differently, Robertson insisted.

Contrast this with what happened in Boston - Vancouver is not the only city in North America to have experienced sports related riots:

In Boston, news reports said the police banned street parking in that city's downtown, didn't allow any public gatherings outdoors, added hundreds of extra police patrols and did not allow people to enter downtown bars after the second period started. The Boston police would not disclose how many police were out Wednesday night, and they declined to estimate the size of their crowds, saying only that they "were prepared and had sufficient officers on the streets for crowd control."

The Boston police have had plenty of experience to learn from. In the past seven years, three people died and there was widespread vandalism in the city during celebrations of big wins by the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Police+grossly+understaffed+Game+union/4969234/story.html#ixzz1Pe6pKro9

[masutheakita]

Looks like the chief is going to take the fall at city hall.