@andyt's recent post:
"ie" as in paraphrasing, takes words out of context a lot of the time, I find. He suggested that there could have been more initially, not that they were late in arriving, nor that they would have acted any sooner, as far as I know. I think it's dangerous to read a little too much into those words.
@andyt's post to me:
I am talking about people on this forum. I am even talking about myself, in similar situations. We all do it at times, and the G20 was the only similar example in mind. I accuse others of it, and others have, at times, rightly accused me of it. Some have a higher predilection for it than others but most are guilty of it to some degree.
At the G20, I figured they simply couldn't mobilize. It was a few in a crowd of bystanders, and problems could erupt if a crowd saw a horde of cops coming at them, as we saw the next day. Maybe it was just viewed as better that a car burn rather than potential harm being caused. Time could be needed to develop a strategy for these issues, one which they could use the next day. Or maybe the police just couldn't deploy fast enough to these problems. Many cops were from other cities, and perhaps were given orders to stay within certain areas to avoid confusion. There were mistakes made at the G20, sure, but I can't state everything was a mistake without making assumptions that all the above were ruled out. I've avoided the G20 topic in general because of the difficulty of differentiating fact from fiction, and out of personal ignorance -- and I'm absolutely happy to let people more ardent in their positions and knowledge of that situation to fight that fight for me.
Mistakes can always be made. We don't know the reasons behind them, but I think the VPD did the best they could do when they were planning with the information and prevailing opinions at the time. I've heard suggestions in various articles, many of which are linked on these forums, that the city was too trusting. They were unprepared for the result -- both the administration, and the citizens. If it is the fault of the police that they did not percieve problems in this magnitude, then I think it is the fault of many others as well -- which would include myself, who was amongst the people who built the mindset that such a thing could not happen.
Still, I think the police should be applauded, and I am not alone. Stories have been popping up hourly about businesses commending police involvement during the entire process,
even those who were looted. Police cruisers
are covered in thank you notes for how they did. The police did not do a perfect job, but perfection could not be expected. For the situation they were in, they did wonderfully -- they cannot be prescient. Things could have been better (it looks so obvious now), but everything in hindsight could have been better. The police chief was quick to accept fault, but I don't think we know enough to say that, if he had done things different, it would have mattered.
Employers and parents have already begun joining in the hordes of people reporting problem makers, even if it is
their own employees... or
children. Cooperation amongst citizens with the police has been ardent, and their support of their city
has been great. The city is cleaning itself up, literally and figuratively. This hasn't changed my opinion on myself moving to Vancouver next year -- the majority of Vancouverites helped that.
Overall, while disappointed at the occurence of this event, those who did it and how it's represented us internationally, I am proud at the response of most of the citizens of Vancouver -- police, administration and civilians. I think, though, we have taken this topic off of it's actual topic for long enough.
CKA Uber 
CKA Uber 
