Reported by: Joel Noe
Source: The Vancouver Province
First Reported by: John Colebourn, Postmedia News
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VANCOUVER — Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson on Saturday remained out of the spotlight after reports the police chief will not give him figures on the number of officers activated the night of the Stanley Cup riot in downtown Vancouver.
Robertson was slated to speak at a Canadian Citizenship ceremony on the Musqueam Reserve in south Vancouver Saturday but cancelled at the last minute.
There was no reason given for his change of plans and he was unavailable for comment afterward.
Other municipal politicians on Saturday spoke of the controversy brewing over the lack of information being made public on the staffing levels of police the night of the riot.
“It is hard to believe the mayor of the city did not have the facts,” municipality Coun. Suzanne Anton said Saturday of Robertson’s admission he has no idea how many officers were on the streets when the crowds turned ugly.
“It is extraordinary to think he doesn’t have them now,” she added.
Robertson has maintained he had conversations with Police Chief Jim Chu leading up to the final NHL Stanley Cup Game 7 at Rogers Arena. But he has indicated he left the policing end to Chu and was not privy to any of the plans or staff numbers police had going into that riot-filled evening.
“I question his leadership,” Anton said. “He also doesn’t have much curiosity in running this event” she added of his lack of knowledge of the police numbers.
She said the so-called “fun zone” in downtown Vancouver, in which big screen televisions were set up and the road closed, was initiated through the mayor’s office and she feels Roberston needs to be held accountable.
Since the night of the riot, Robertson has said the policing measures were all left to Chu. The police chief has not been forthcoming with any sort of staff numbers as the riot intensified.
By the time the backup arrived on the night of Game 7, a full-blown riot had erupted, leading to major property damage in the city core.
VPD’s Chu has declined to confirm the size of the force patrolling for Game 7, He did say: “There were hundreds of officers deployed and hundreds more were brought in later on.”
In March, Chu said he was aiming for about the same level of policing used by Calgary in 2004, and Edmonton in 2006, when those cities played host to games in the Stanley Cup final.
Vancouver police are defending the number of officers on the street during last week’s riot, saying it was about the same during the gold-medal hockey game during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
“It is true that about 5,000 officers were brought in from other jurisdictions for the Olympic Games, but those officers were for deployment by the Integrated Security Unit inside venues from Richmond to Whistler. The Vancouver Police Department policed the streets of Vancouver, with some assistance from the ISU in the final days,” said a statement issued by police last week.
The VPD has refused to say how many officers were on duty the night of the Stanley Cup riot, but administrative reports filed with city council and the Vancouver Police Board suggest the initial plan was to have about 300 in the street.
The officers in place that initially were unable to control the riot, included a 100-member RCMP tactical troop and 100 members of the VPD crowd-control unit, two groups specially trained in riot response.
The force is continuing to refuse to release its tally of feet on the street, and maintains it wouldn’t matter anyway because there will always be debate over how many officers would have been enough.
“Following the events of June 15, 2011, media attention has focused on the number of police on the streets that night. Debate appears to be raging over whether the number was too small and what should have been the ‘correct’ number. While the debate is always worthwhile having, it is important to remember that there is no ‘correct’ number.”
“Realistically, there is no plausible number of police that could have been deployed that would have prevented this riot. Nor can anyone predict with 100 per cent certainty whether a riot will occur. Toronto had many more police, drawn from across the country, on the streets for the G20 and they still had a riot.”
Anton has said the mayor’s office needs to fully co-operate with an independent inquiry that has been launched to look at the riot and the policing problems that evening.
First Reported by: John Colebourn, Postmedia News
Robertson was slated to speak at a Canadian Citizenship ceremony on the Musqueam Reserve in south Vancouver Saturday but cancelled at the last minute.
There was no reason given for his change of plans and he was unavailable for comment afterward.
Other municipal politicians on Saturday spoke of the controversy brewing over the lack of information being made public on the staffing levels of police the night of the riot.
“It is hard to believe the mayor of the city did not have the facts,” municipality Coun. Suzanne Anton said Saturday of Robertson’s admission he has no idea how many officers were on the streets when the crowds turned ugly.
“It is extraordinary to think he doesn’t have them now,” she added.
Robertson has maintained he had conversations with Police Chief Jim Chu leading up to the final NHL Stanley Cup Game 7 at Rogers Arena. But he has indicated he left the policing end to Chu and was not privy to any of the plans or staff numbers police had going into that riot-filled evening.
“I question his leadership,” Anton said. “He also doesn’t have much curiosity in running this event” she added of his lack of knowledge of the police numbers.
She said the so-called “fun zone” in downtown Vancouver, in which big screen televisions were set up and the road closed, was initiated through the mayor’s office and she feels Roberston needs to be held accountable.
Since the night of the riot, Robertson has said the policing measures were all left to Chu. The police chief has not been forthcoming with any sort of staff numbers as the riot intensified.
By the time the backup arrived on the night of Game 7, a full-blown riot had erupted, leading to major property damage in the city core.
VPD’s Chu has declined to confirm the size of the force patrolling for Game 7, He did say: “There were hundreds of officers deployed and hundreds more were brought in later on.”
In March, Chu said he was aiming for about the same level of policing used by Calgary in 2004, and Edmonton in 2006, when those cities played host to games in the Stanley Cup final.
Vancouver police are defending the number of officers on the street during last week’s riot, saying it was about the same during the gold-medal hockey game during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
“It is true that about 5,000 officers were brought in from other jurisdictions for the Olympic Games, but those officers were for deployment by the Integrated Security Unit inside venues from Richmond to Whistler. The Vancouver Police Department policed the streets of Vancouver, with some assistance from the ISU in the final days,” said a statement issued by police last week.
The VPD has refused to say how many officers were on duty the night of the Stanley Cup riot, but administrative reports filed with city council and the Vancouver Police Board suggest the initial plan was to have about 300 in the street.
The officers in place that initially were unable to control the riot, included a 100-member RCMP tactical troop and 100 members of the VPD crowd-control unit, two groups specially trained in riot response.
The force is continuing to refuse to release its tally of feet on the street, and maintains it wouldn’t matter anyway because there will always be debate over how many officers would have been enough.
“Following the events of June 15, 2011, media attention has focused on the number of police on the streets that night. Debate appears to be raging over whether the number was too small and what should have been the ‘correct’ number. While the debate is always worthwhile having, it is important to remember that there is no ‘correct’ number.”
“Realistically, there is no plausible number of police that could have been deployed that would have prevented this riot. Nor can anyone predict with 100 per cent certainty whether a riot will occur. Toronto had many more police, drawn from across the country, on the streets for the G20 and they still had a riot.”
Anton has said the mayor’s office needs to fully co-operate with an independent inquiry that has been launched to look at the riot and the policing problems that evening.
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