venerdì 17 giugno 2011

Police chief points to criminal, anarchist element behind Stanley Cup riot Read more: http://www.vancourier.com/Police+chief+points+criminal+anarchi



Some rioters came equipped with masks, goggles, gasoline claims Chu

BY MIKE HOWELL, STAFF WRITER

Why did the riot happen?

It was a question Police Chief Jim Chu attempted to answer at a packed news conference this morning at the Vancouver Police Department’s Cambie Street station.

“When a large number of criminals and anarchists have a common purpose and intent to break the law, it’s very difficult to stop that,” Chu said in taking questions from reporters. “There was a plan in place that was derived from some very expert people who have trained and studied these incidents elsewhere in the world. Despite the best efforts of many, many police agencies, including ones that have tremendously higher number of resources than we have, riots still occur.”

Chu, who was a sergeant during the 1994 Stanley Cup riot, pointed out that officers were able to “bring the situation under control” in three hours—half the time it took in 1994, but with triple the number of rioters.

Police made close to 100 arrests Wednesday night and received 120 tips from the public by 5 a.m. Citizens have also sent police videos of people causing criminal acts.

The chief said the “criminal element” was responsible for burning 15 cars, including two marked police cruisers in a parking lot adjacent to Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Several downtown businesses were vandalized, there was looting and several cars were flipped over and set ablaze. Fistfights broke out and some citizens attempted to guard stores from being further ransacked.

Doctors in the crowd stepped in to help the injured, which reached more than 100, according to hospital officials. One man fell from the viaduct adjacent to Rogers Arena and is in critical condition. Chu credited citizens, his officers, medical staff, paramedics and firefighters for their efforts.

“But even with those assets in place, our city was still vulnerable to a number of young men and women disguised as Canucks fans who were actually criminals and anarchists,” Chu said. “These are people who came equipped with masks, goggles and gasoline—even fire extinguishers that they would use as weapons.”

Nine police officers were injured, including one who required 14 stitches after being hit in the head with a brick while stopping a looter at a sporting goods shop. Some officers were bitten.

“For those watching in disbelief and shock at home and wondering why police were not immediately arresting the looters, with apologies to business owners who became the victims of these criminals, our plan and our priority must always be the safety of the public over the safety of buildings and property,” Chu said. “Our members temporarily left hotspots so they could regroup in larger units to have sufficient members safely encourage the crowd to disperse and to take assertive action when they wouldn’t.”

Assistant fire chief Wade Pierlot spoke at the press conference and said firefighters had rocks and bottles thrown at their trucks. Getting to fires was a challenge for firefighters, said Pierlot, adding that some fire inspectors in the streets were assaulted and had to take refuge.

“It’s an experience we’re not used to,” Pierlot said. “They did an excellent job at the parkade, The Bay, Homer Street by the [Centre for Performing Arts]—those fires left unattended were direct threats to life and property and our crews, at great peril to themselves physically getting there, were able to deal with those.”

The cleanup downtown was continuing throughout the day, with damages and policing costs expected to be several million dollars.

mhowell@vancourier.com

Twitter: @Howellings



Read more: http://www.vancourier.com/Police+chief+points+criminal+anarchist+element+behind+Stanley+riot/4959890/story.html#ixzz1PZAPcryV

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