How VPD Secured City During 2010 Olympic Games Without Repressing It

 Chief Constable Jim  Chu, cognizant of the many terrible things  that could go wrong during one of the most important chapters in Vancouver's history, attended briefings every morning at 7:30 a.m. during the 2010 Winter Games. “He went to dozens and dozens of briefings during that period,” Lindsey Houghton, a media relations officer for the VPD said.  

Chu (pictured above)  sat on the edge of his chair agonizing as helicopter video streamed in live footage of the demonstrations taking outside BC Place during the opening ceremonies.  He worked twenty hour days.  He was on the job more than perhaps any other officer on the police force.  And now, observers say, Chief Chu has much to feel proud of.  Roundly viewed as one of the great successes in the world tome of security stories that can keep people safe but leave bitter legacies due to heavy handed tactics,  the story behind the policing at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games has just begun to be told.

The Vancouver Police Department had long prepared for protests and intended to "facilitate" rather than prevent them, Houghton said.  As the "city of jurisdiction," Houghton said Vancouver was able to set the tone of the Integrated Security Unit's (ISU) posture in dealing with protesters and with crowds.

For Chief Chu, being sure that this happened "went beyond a little bit of business as usual," Houghton said.  "For him it was, as always, we can’t compromise on public safety.  We never know what’s going to happen until that minute comes, but it was about facilitating peaceful and lawful protests, because we knew that they were going to happen and we had been saying for months, we believe that free speech in Canada is an inherent right and we are going to do everything we can to protect that.

"We saw that on the night of the Opening Ceremonies," Houghton continued.  "We had about 1500 protesters down at Beatty and Robson protesting, and there were people spitting at our officers faces, throwing vinegar at them, throwing spears at them." The "spears" were made out of sharpened flag poles, Houghton said,  "and they were throwing them,  at least a dozen, and two of our officers ended up getting hurt and going to hospital. But from a public safety perspective we knew we had to show discipline and restraint and to facilitate people who were protesting lawfully  There were about 1400 people who were protesting lawfully. About about 100 of the criminal element."

In the words of another observer close to Chu:  "It would have taken only one police officer to lose it and lash out to change the tone.  "Chief Chu knew this and he was calm, but you could see what he was thinking, almost praying that no one would lose it. It would have only taken one officer to go ballistic and it would have changed the whole tone of the Games.  And it didn’t, and that is the one of the most powerful legacies of the Games for the City.  The way the security functioned.  The humanity the police showed.  Cities around the world will want to take note of what happened here."

Houghton said the Vancouver Police Department had worked with ISU and government partners "to make sure everyone understood everyone’s roles and to be sure they understood the philosophy we have in Vancouver.  We pride ourselves with having a good relationship with people here.  We think when it comes to crowd management we are one of the best out there. 

"We always try to be at the cutting edge of best practices in policing.  We realize there are police agencies out there that have very innovative and successful ways of doing things.  We look at those and we think we’re at the forefront as well.  Our doors are always open to any agency that might want to talk to us about how they might be able to do things a bit better.

"Despite a bit of fear mongering and pessimism leading up to the Games, our beliefs were validated.  And to get feedback from people who aren’t from Vancouver, who were very surprised by the interactions between the police and people.  It’s not a surprise to us.  That’s just how we do it here.  We think it’s common sense.  It’s about positively interacting with people.  You catch more flies with honey."

B.C. Solicitor General Kash Heed said police and security forces at the Vancouver Olympics established a "gold standard" that should and would serve as an example to future Olympic cities. 

To many, the friendliness and poise of security people at the Olympics was a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. "I was very impressed by the police presence downtown, especially after gold-medal hockey. They were alert yet also friendly and helpful," said Kim Werker.

My first encounter with Olympics security happened like this.  A cold rain poured down on the large crowd that inched toward  some ten security check points.  After along wait, I got under a tent and out of the rain to discover what looked just like an airport security check point complete with Xray machine and conveyor belt.  Six men and women in navy blue security uniforms managed the tent.  Three  worked  the Xray machine and the conveyor belt monitoring boxes for the bags, purses, cell phones, computers, cameras, and the random detritus of pockets passing through the machine.  The security team welcomed people to the Olympics.  They smiled warmly as they scanned the woman in front of me from head to toe.  Then they asked her to turn around, while chatting amicably.  They thoroughly searched each body and related with each person.   After that night, there was never much more than a five minute wait to get through security.  They weren't as thorough, it turned out, as they should have been about checking credentials and there was a security breach involving Vice President Joe Biden at the Opening Ceremonies.  Witnesses said the man never got near Biden.  But the fact of the breach demonstrated that even a billion dollars in security spending couldn't address every possible risk, particularly the risk of human error.

Security in the post 9/11 world is not going away, so if anything these Games put forth a model of policing that facilitates rather than represses.  But considering the repression that led up to the Olympics in Beijing and the violence in Turin, Vancouver's Games are a ray of hope that increases in security don't mean shifts towards more fascist societies.

The Olympics in Calgary took place in 1988 and the world was different.  "I don't remember any show of force, only volunteers," said a friend who attended the Calgary Games.In Vancouver, police were everywhere, but in his view, they were transparent, part of the scene but never creating the scene.  "Obviously they were here in sheer numbers but there was no heavy handedness about them. I didn't feel any sense of repression, or fear with respect to them.  They were part of the party in a sense, but with a job to do IF things got out of hand... my perspective."

"They did a fine job," he said. He added:  "For a billion bucks."