The Night the City Became a Stadium INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE 2011 VANCOUVER STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS RIOT John Furlong and Douglas J. Keefe, Q.C. CO-CHAIRS The Night the City Became a Stadium INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF THE 2011 VANCOUVER STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS RIOT CO-CHAIRS: John Furlong and Douglas J. Keefe, Q.C. Vancouver, British Columbia August 31, 2011 COPYRIGHT ©2011 GOVERNMENT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA DEDICATED TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO TOOK BACK THE STREETS. August 31st, 2011 Solicitor General and Minister of Public Safety, Province of British Columbia P.O. Box 9053, Stn Prov Govt Victoria, BC V8W9E2 Mayor of City of Vancouver 453 West 12th Avenue Vancouver, BC V5Y 1V4 Chair of the Police Board 2120 Cambie Street Vancouver BC V5Z 4N6 Dear Review Sponsors, Final Report of the Independent Review of the 2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup Playoffs Riot We are pleased to deliver our Final Report to you, as required in the Terms of Reference established for the review. The report addresses 1) the learnings from the 1994 riot and how were they integrated into our planning for this event, 2) the foundational elements of the VPD/City plans for the event and the relationship of those plans to what transpired in the lead-up and during the riots, 3) the availability of liquor at public events and the contribution this made to the events that unfolded, and 4) looking forward, a framework for how the City of Vancouver and the VPD work with the appropriate partners to optimize the safe, inclusive and enjoyable participation of our public in celebrations in the public spaces for which Vancouver is world-renowned. Yours very truly, DOUGLAS J. KEEFE, Q.C. JOHN FURLONG Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...............................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................7 A positive anxiety for the Canucks ........................................................................................... 7 Aftermath ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Mandate of this review .............................................................................................................. 8 OUR ROLE ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Assigning blame ......................................................................................................................... 9 Cause, learning & improvement ............................................................................................... 9 WHY A REVIEW? ...........................................................................................................................10 A two-month independent process ....................................................................................... 10 The Stanley Cup riot ................................................................................................................. 11 A WORD OF THANKS… .................................................................................................................11 A NARRATIVE ACCOUNT OF THE RIOT ....................................................................13 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13 Game day ................................................................................................................................... 13 Indications of trouble ............................................................................................................... 16 Fires set and the riot is on ....................................................................................................... 19 1. LEARNINGS FROM 1994 ......................................................................................27 THE EVENTS OF JUNE 14, 1994 .....................................................................................................27 THE LESSONS FROM JUNE 14, 1994 ..............................................................................................30 1. Operational Planning .......................................................................................................... 30 2. Communications .................................................................................................................. 33 3. Command .............................................................................................................................. 38 4. Deployment and Tactics ...................................................................................................... 39 5. Equipment .............................................................................................................................. 42 6. Training .................................................................................................................................. 46 7. The role of alcohol ................................................................................................................ 48 8. Special Event Planning ........................................................................................................ 51 9. Other Findings ....................................................................................................................... 54 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .....................................................................................................56 2. VPD AND CITY PLANS AND WHAT TRANSPIRED ................................................59 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................59 EVENT PLANNING STRUCTURE AT CITY.........................................................................................59 FINDINGS ....................................................................................................................................71 Summary .................................................................................................................................... 71 POLICE PLANNING .......................................................................................................................72 Did the VPD have the resources it thought were required for game 7?................................ 73 Revealing the number of police ............................................................................................. 74 The number ................................................................................................................................ 75 Comparable numbers .............................................................................................................. 78 Game 7: predicting the crowd ................................................................................................ 80 Finding ........................................................................................................................................ 80 Was this foreseeable? ............................................................................................................... 82 Finding: not beyond imagining .............................................................................................. 82 Adaptation to changing conditions ...................................................................................... 82 RECOMMENDATION .................................................................................................................. 78 THE NIGHT THE CITY BECAME A STADIUM POLICE RESPONSE TO RIOTOUS BEHAVIOR ...................................................................................82 Could the riot have been suppressed through earlier and firmer intervention by police? ............................................................................................................ 83 Finding ........................................................................................................................................ 83 Transition from riot prevention to riot suppression ............................................................ 84 Command confusion ................................................................................................................ 85 Findings ...................................................................................................................................... 85 RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................ 87 RECOMMENDATION .................................................................................................................. 87 Communication with crowd ................................................................................................... 88 RECOMMENDATION .................................................................................................................. 88 A REGIONAL RIOT ........................................................................................................................88 The structure of policing ......................................................................................................... 93 Finding .......................................................................................................................................