Olympics: Police Failure in Vancouver

Anyone who was there, or who saw the video on Global TV, has realized that Vancouver Police failed today in enforcing the law. Criminals committed criminal acts and got away with it. Pedestrians were attacked in the street. Cars were vandalized. Store windows were smashed. Paint was thrown at businesses.

Anarchists riot in Vancouver; most get away with it

And all this happened in front of the police who did VIRTUALLY NOTHING to stop it. I'm not kidding; check the video. Ask anyone who was there.

Masked rioters attack police

When ordinary citizens are assaulted in the street and the police stand by and do nothing this country becomes no better than Haiti. No better than Haiti. NO BETTER THAN HAITI.

NO BETTER THAN HAITI!

Forget all the smarmy, patriotic drivel being spread around on CTV, the facts are that in the streets you're no longer safe.

The police admit . . .

THE POLICE ADMIT

there were over a hundred masked demonstrators. They arrested seven.

SEVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Masked anarchists smash bank window (CP photo)

Anarchists were committing crimes, were caught by the police, and then let go! It was catch-and-release policing. Since when were police supposed to be judge and jury? Since when were criminals given a scolding instead of jail time? This was the kind of policing you see in, yes, Haiti.

God, I hate this country. I hate the way it's gone down the slippery slope of Trudeau civil rights. I hate the Supreme Court and the way it has sided with the criminal element.

I hate the Attorneys General who have failed to enforce the law.

FAILED TO ENFORCE THE LAW.

I am calling on the Federal Minister of Justice to take over policing of Vancouver and if necessary to shut down the games and arrest people at airports.

This

has

to

stop.

Now.

Update
Here's the letter.

Rob Nicholson
Minister of Justice
105 East Block
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

February 13, 2010

Dear Rob,

I am calling on you to take over policing of Vancouver following the failure of Vancouver Police today to enforce the Criminal Code and arrest the hundreds of anarchists who staged a riot in the city centre. Canada is supposed to be a country of 'peace, order and good government.' Today, in Vancouver it was none of these.

Please exercise your powers and enforce the law.

Sincerely,
Frank Hilliard

Grand Forks, BC

Update II
(Feb. 14) -- Let me clarify my criticism now that a day has passed and I'm not quite so pissed off. The single and sole excuse for police releasing individuals in a riot is because they fear for their own safety. This was not the case yesterday; there were plenty of police resources nearby.

Police procedure is to nip a riot in the bud by arresting the ringleaders, but there's a flaw in the procedure; it is, simply, that all of the anarchists were guilty of the same crime. By arresting a few and letting the majority go (more like 200 than 100), they basically failed to carry out their duty to arrest individuals in the process of committing a crime. All the anarchists were guilty of conspiracy because they all took part in the same event. All were guilty of the same crimes of disturbing the peace, assault, resisting arrest, property damage and more.

It's almost as if our 'right to protest' has now removed our responsibility not to take part in an illegal activity. The police seem to think because they nab an aggressive single individual they don't have to arrest his (or her) quiet accomplice standing nearby. A lot of these folks later blamed the police for 'violence' against them when the whole lot of them should have been on buses bound for a holding facility out of the city.

When the police force in this country can't arrest 200 people it tells me one thing: there are going to be more, not fewer, of these demonstrations. Only next time the anarchists are going to take a leaf from the flash mob that occurred later in the day and not telegraph their punches.

And they won't be wearing the stupid black uniforms they wore yesterday.

Update III
(Feb. 15) -- Of the seven arrested, they've charged three. Nothing to see here, move along folks.