Orderly Games result of great policing: Cops
 
John Bermingham
The Province
 
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
 
Vancouver's finest are proud as punch about how they policed the
Olympic Games.
 
They kept 130,000 partying fans who were packed into the downtown
core in a peaceful mood, despite some sore boozers who had their
stash poured out.
 
Even crime fell in the city during the Games.
 
"I am pretty sure we won gold," Deputy Chief Const. Doug LePard said
yesterday.
 
On Sunday night, there were 100 arrests, mostly for drinking, and
some for breach of the peace, disorderly and violent behaviour.
 
Two Vancouver police officers were injured at Seymour and Dunsmuir
streets when they tried to break up a fight. One of them will need
surgery on his hand.
 
LePard said the Olympic crowds were in a festive mood, inundating
officers with requests for high-fives and photos. Crowds often broke
into chants of "VPD, VPD," he said.
 
LePard credited the early liquor-store closings, a recommendation
from the post-mortem into the 1994 Stanley Cup riot, with keeping
the lid on hooligans.
 
"We think that made a huge difference," he said.
 
Over the 17 days, police did 21,000 liquor "pour-outs."
 
Vancouver cops issued 1,230 violation tickets for drinking in a
public place in the Games period, and 253 for being drunk in a
public place. Another 93 people were arrested for breach of the
peace.
 
Crime fell during the Olympics, which LePard puts down to high
police visibility and bad guys taking in the Games.
 
Residential break-ins were down 16 per cent, he said, compared to
the same period last year. And theft from autos fell 37 per cent.
Only assaults against police officers were up.
 
There were 36 protests during the Games, and organizers were
co-operative. Even the violent protest two Saturdays ago was policed
well, he said, even though "it was an embarrassment" for citizens.
 
"The right people at the right time went to jail," he said.
 
LePard said the policing bill isn't in yet, but he says it's a drop
in the bucket in the overall security budget.
 
Surveillance cameras helped spot problems early, and he would like
to keep them on Granville Mall.
 
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said city council has no plans to
keep CCTV surveillance.
 
When the cameras were installed, Robertson said they would not stay
unless there was council debate.
 
jbermingham@theprovince.com

John Bermingham The Province