🚀 go-pugleaf

This post is regarding the recent post-Stanley Cup riot in
Vancouver.

I am cross-posting this to alt.law-enforcement where experienced
police personnel may wish to comment.

This will certainly be a learning experience for the police forces
involved (Vancouver City Police assisted by the RCMP).  Riot control
squads in Britain had a similar problem of having "two fronts" that
squeezed a panicked crowd into a tight-packed mob.

This "two front" situation is something to avoid if at all possible.
But, I have been involved in real crowd control situations, and Public
Order Unit (POU) training exercises; it is all too easy for the right
hand to be unaware of what the left hand is doing.

Also, the POU in Toronto has never resorted to pepper spray or CS gas as
far as I am aware.  They do, however, ensure that no-one in the crowd gets
behind the line unless they are being arrested or need to be pulled through
because they are injured.

In <dblack-160694013728@port63.annex1.net.ubc.ca>, dblack@unixg.ubc.ca (David Black) writes:
>Here's what happened from my point of view.
>
>I was one of the folks on the ground who was victimized by the whole
>affair. When the festivities began I was about 15 metres from Thurlow on
>Robson (the instigation point). The crowd had just allowed entry to the two
>ambulances that had entered the intersection about 20 minutes (a guess, I
>didn't have my watch) earlier. Suddenly I was swarmed by paniced people who
>had been sprayed with pepper spray. People knocked my bike out of my hands
>and fell over it. People who had been blinded ran into other people, lamp
>standards and buildings. After they got themselves clear, other celebrants
>(it was still not a riot) moved up to take their place. Most were unaware
>that those fleeing had been sprayed. I moved to a storefront where I would
>not get trampled. In a couple of minutes the police sprayed the front ranks
>of the crowd again and another stampede ensued.
>
>Now the crowd had retreated about 75 metres away from the intersection and
>the police in riot gear had secured the perimeter of the intersection. It
>was at this point when people first started to smash windows. I was still
>about 15 metres from the riot squad line. The squad (in helmuts,
>face-shields, gas-masks, shields and armed with batons) began to beat their
>shields with their batons. They then began to advance east along Robson.
>When they came to where I was huddling against the wall, I was told to move
>to the crowd. I indicated that I would rather go behind the riot squad
>where the street had been cleared. I was given the message in no uncertain
>terms (by the brandishing of the baton) that I would not be permitted to do
>this. I was forced back to the edge of the crowd. At the edge of the
>retreating crowd were regularly uniformed police who were attempting to
>help people comply with the directives of the riot squad, but this was to
>no avail. I found out today that the person who was shot was at the end of
>the block that the riot squad were directing us towards. I told one of the
>officers that I could not make my way through the crowd because it was too
>tight and I had my bicycle. She told me that we should all try to get into
>a doorway and get off the street, which we did.
>
>I have to remind readers that at this time people were smashing windows in
>shops along the street. With thousands of people trapped in one city block
>between two advancing ranks of riot police, there was nowhere to go. The
>uniformed police who were standing with me recognized this and were trying
>to remain calm. Then the riot squads fired tear gas into the crowd, "in
>order to move them" in the words of Vancouver's Chief of Police this
>evening. Well, it worked. I was nearly overcome by the gas and I saw that
>several of the uniformed officers were also effected. The crowd panicked
>again, and despite the riot squad at Burrard St, ran east. Those members of
>the riot squad at Burrard panicked when they realized that they were being
>charged by thousands of individuals, tear gas was fired at the crowd again,
>this time from the other direction. I continued on through and turned right
>on Burrard. At this point I could have gone home. I had my bicycle and was
>not dependent on transit like many of the others. I chose to stay and see
>what developed. There were a series of running battles between some thugs
>and the police. The situation continued for several hours.
>
>I want to get back to the situation of when the riot started. Having seen
>the news clips of what was going on at Robson and Thurlow, I can understand
>why the police panicked when surrounded at Thurlow and Robson and they used
>the pepper spray. The claim that the ambulances were impeded is completely
>false. Both ambulances proceeded down Robson at the rate of a quick jog,
>given the circumstances, quite quickly. If they were prevented from
>leaving, I didn't notice and I certainly didn't see them being rocked, but
>then I wasn't looking for those things. Tapes I've seen show that the
>ambulances weren't impeded coming in, anyway.
>
>I was only a few feet from the situation, and was totally unaware of it
>until the stampede started. If I had been warned to leave, I would have
>removed myself from the immediate situation. I'm sure other like minded
>people would have done the same. The police could then have apprehended
>those who were instigating trouble. Instead, the first indication innocent
>people like myself had of trouble, was the pepper spray and tear gas. This
>had the effect of angering people who would have probably left peacefully
>otherwise. The collective anger and despair of the crowd then emboldened
>those instigators to further action and the riot was underway.
>
>The Chief of Police said that everthing went according to the plan that was
>drawn up days in advance. This is hauntingly reminiscent of the von
>Schlieffen Plan (sorry about the spelling) that the German High Command had
>before World War One. The plan was drawn in advance and was not at all
>flexible. Once war was declared, Germany had to go ahead with its plan,
>even though it was not appropriate to the situation as it developed. I
>think that the same thing could be said of the Chief's plan. The massive
>show of force served to antagonize some members of the crowd that otherwise
>would have went home, especially if they were asked. I saw many people who
>were very indignant about being sprayed or gassed without warning. I tried
>to convince them to leave now and complain later, but emotions were running
>very high. Many people's friends, lovers, spouses and children had been
>overcome by the gassing and spraying.
>
>I travelled around the downtown core until after 1:30 and I thought that
>the vast majority of police handled themselves very professionally. Some
>seemed to go out of their way to ensure that people who needed help got it,
>and were sensitive to the fact that many people simply wanted to go home.
>The only situation of excess use of force that I witnessed (aside from TV
>reports) during the riot was when a shirtless man was dragged by the legs
>along the glass-strewn Granville Mall.
>
>Hopefully the investigation will centre on the question of why the police
>brass totally over-reacted in the intial stages of the situation and
>drastically escalated the problems of the evening.

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David Muir                                             Toronto, Canada
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                   Opinions expressed are my own,
      not IBM's nor the Metropolitan Toronto Auxiliary Police.
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