A message from a senior RCMP official to the B.C. governments director of police services the morning after the Stanley Cup riot contradicts the official number of police that were deployed.
At the height of the disturbances, there were 700 police officers downtown, said Asst. Comm. Craig Callens in an email sent at 6:40 a.m. on June 16 to deputy Solicitor General Clayton Pecknold. The message was obtained under Freedom of Information.
John Furlong and Doug Keefes $313,000, Sept. 1-published provincial review said there were 446 officers deployed in downtown Vancouver on June 15 but their ranks grew to 928.
Callenss email, which was co-signed by Asst. Comm. Norm Lipinski, summarized the police response to the riot and detailed the ripple effects on suburban police forces. Lipinski was in the Vancouver Police command centre to coordinate the RCMP effort.
In addition to deployed resources, Chilliwack RCMP covered off for Abbotsford PD... Burnaby RCMP covered off New Westminster... Coquitlam RCMP covered off Port Moody, Callens wrote.
Bond was not copied on the specific email, which was forwarded by Pecknold to Solicitor General communications director Robert Pauliszyn and issues manager Donna Sitter with a message saying: Do not forward. Check with me and VPD before stating numbers.
Police numbers were withheld until the Furlong/Keefe reports release.
Callens listed the numbers of officers from Vancouver, RCMP, Abbotsford, New Westminster, Port Moody, West Vancouver and Delta, but the figures were censored for security reasons. Callens did not respond to a Vancouver Courier query, but spokesman Supt. Ray Bernoties said
the 700 total was preliminary and not intended to be exact.
We have every confidence that the numbers provided in the review are accurate numbers, Bernoties wrote in an email.
The Vancouver Police internal review published Sept. 6 showed the numbers from each department. Of the 928 officers, 606 were from VPD and 169 from RCMP detachments. Abbotsford sent 52, Delta 24, New Westminster 20 and Port Moody 16.
Documents in the same FOI release include a riot night email exchange between Pecknold and Solicitor General Shirley Bond, who was in Prince George.
At 7:54 p.m. Pecknold wrote: Large volume at SkyTrain stations as crowd disperses. Posing some challenges. Otherwise crowd behaving and under control.
Bond responded at 7:55 p.m.: Have you seen TVsays violent riot.
What TV said that? Not CBC, wrote Bonds ministerial assistant Marc Douglas at 7:57 p.m.
You should see the picturescar burningsays crowd turns violent, Bond wrote a minute later.
By 8:01 p.m., Pecknold began to understand the severity: Info from operations. One car. Downtown. Some windows broken. Response underway.
The highest ranks of the RCMP, including Commissioner William Elliott and chief financial officer Alain Seguin, were alerted by the National Operations Centre in an 8:59 p.m. message.
At 10:02 p.m., Bond wrote to Pecknold: Clayton, I was asked if there were enough officers. I said there had always been a plan to supplement VPD and there are currently RCMP and other detachment members being deployed. Correct.
Pecknold replied Yes at 10:05 p.m.
The only mention of Premier Christy Clark in the documents was an 8:07 a.m. email on June 16 from Pauliszyn to Pecknold: Premier has asked for messaging and QnA on the issues that are popping up.
On June 17, a briefing note was prepared for Bond about the B.C. Police Commissions report on the 1994 Stanley Cup riot. In July, the Courier reported that Clarks office did not produce a briefing note on the riot and its ramifications for the province.
