The near-end-game riot in the streets of Vancouver, B.C., happened in the city of $1 million bungalows. It happened in the most expensive most-liveable city in Canada. A lot of people around the country may think Vancouver Police Department dropped the ball on this one, and the riot went out-of-control on their ill-conceived watch.
Well, let me say from experience, VPD does not look good with a smile on its face, with the high-fiving hockey fans, and mixing with the unhinged in society. It appears VPD should stick to working with a snarl on its face. They were tricked by the honour of hosting the Olympics, lulled into a false security about the nature of large crowds.
During the Olympics with the billion dollar security budget, police walked shoulder-to shoulder with world visitors, and it worked like a charm, except none of the world visitors had any axes to grind. This time, VPD went along with festivities in a similar fashion to those amazing scenes of last year. As it turned, they were overwhelmed by the way it was arranged. They will know better next time, since this was the second Vancouver hockey team to blow a Stanley Cup final, at home, thus the repetition in whole affair becomes rather undignified.
Maybe this time it`s not entirely about hockey. Vancouver has a lot of pent-up rage, and organized anarchist cells know it. By every appearance this chaos was arranged in a carefully staged manner, and the fact is, according to Police Chief Jim Chu, VPD, hockey losses weren`t to blame at all. He may be right, since at least one `cell` was caught on a CTV camera standing inside Hudson Bay Dept Store, not looting, talking on cell phones, and ultimately inviting looters through the windows. The CTV camera captured what looked like masked plotters in a Hudson Bay Store that was ultimately ransacked, with these being seen in masks at mid-escalation.
According to CBC TV News, the first car was set afire around 7:30 P.M. a couple blocks from the arena downtown where the game was still in progress, but over for the Canucks. By 8 o`clock police acted to declare the assembly unlawful, and began a belated effort to disperse the 100,000 people in the streets. This seems to be the general timing of the anarchist plot. The crowd incitement occurred well before the game was over, and centred on areas near the site of the game at Rogers Centre, around the large public TV screens.
The incitement moved immediately north from the rink to the always-crowded Granville Street outdoor mall. It appears here, after dusk, that the CTV live camera footage showed a group of five or six masked men inside the Hudson`s Bay. If these were anarchists, they have begun to incite people into stores for the crush of lootings. This action spread. One London Drugs store alone reports over $1 million in damage and losses. Elsewhere at the same time, cars were flipped and set afire.
By this time, anarchy had reign over the streets, and smashing of windows and looting of stores continued full scale. It becomes obvious that a large amount of organization went into creating this amount of chaos. The mainstream media and bloggers, twitter pics, and Youtube videos immediately flooded into the public eye, which was showing clearly that police were engaged in containment and dispersal was laborious, and combative. Over a dozen police officers were treated for injuries. .
Vancouver citizens are nothing if not unpredictable, but, usually in the most delightful ways, but this time, add to the mix an organized element of chaos, and the underlying social unrest went beyond palpable. Something needs to be said about the VPD. They are an awesome police force. They deal with a myriad of social problems including a restive blend of ethnicities, and a constant background noise about all the drugs in the spectrum.
VPD deals with the worst neighbourhood crisis in the world and does it with more humanity than the situation appears to invite. The Downtown Eastside is a crisis-zone that VPD has managed very well. They work hard, they put up with endless mayhem, and they are tough, real tough, but fair. The whole situation is under surveillance, and they know only too well, sometimes you have to stand back, watch, and hope for the best.
VPD has learned from mistakes in the past, Ron Paul, Willy Pickton, gang violence, endless drug mayhem, and the city can be proud of that police force for keeping the VAST MAJORITY safe and sound. Chief of Police Jim Chu said it best, calling the rioters thugs. He told media, "There was a group of people, that were criminals and anarchists that were bent on causing this destruction. They came prepared. They had incendiary devices, They had weapons. They had a plan. They had objectives."
Over 100 arrests already ensued. More arrests and lots of jail sentences will be forthcoming, and convictions will be a slam dunk because so much of this was captured on film. Retribution will be harsh as it should be. I do think VPD will come in for sharp criticism. I don`t think they shoulder all the blame, even if their laissez faire tactics were flawed. It was only the grace of God that spared hundreds upon hundreds of serious injuries. Some of the cars could have BLOWN SKY HIGH.
In the aftermath Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson made the rounds of public appearances to thank Vancouver citizens for an extraordinary clean-up campaign that took place right from the crack of dawn. People came down with brooms, bags, cans and elbow grease to remove the vestiges of the night`s mob-savagery. Is this the last time you watch hockey on TV? Do you love the game, the hype, the talent, the energy? You may wonder if Vancouver fans understand the game enough to really enjoy it for what it`s worth. Then remember, Canadian cities and hockey riots have a long, glass-shattering history. Nobody died in this one, so that`s one thing to be thankful for.
