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'Leave big guns at home for demos' civil liberties group tells VPD

Vancouver Police Department should stop bringing semi-automatic military weaponry to demonstrations in Vancouver, even where there's a risk of rioting, says the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association in a press release issued today that includes a photo of VPD officer carrying a high-powered Colt C8 carbine rifle.

The release quotes BCCLA president Robert Holmes arguing, "Even in a scenario like Saturday where a group of protesters engage in illegal property damage, as well as reprehensible violence against police and citizens, the Police were able to restore order without pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets, Tasers or handguns. Do they really need military grade semi-automatic rifles?"

The release continues:

The BCCLA has monitored police action over a number of major public order events over many years, including the Guns and Roses riot, the so-called "Riot at the Hyatt", and the Stanley Cup riot. Saturday is the first instance the BCCLA is aware of where military guns have been deployed for civilian crowd control purposes in Vancouver.

High powered rifles in a stressful situation add to the risk of law enforcement and security measures going seriously wrong," said Holmes. "The public has not been told of any security threat that would justify the presence of such weaponry. Just as the sonic gun raised controversy last fall, so too the presence of these weapons should be explained and, unless absolutely necessary, they should be withdrawn.

Vancouver Police Department public order officer Vince Forsberg confirmed that the weapons were deployed to back up Crowd Control Unit police officers who do not carry firearms, and said that he understood them to be "intermediate weapons" designed "to allow an accurate shot at an intermediate range (usually under 100 meters).

David Beers is editor of The Tyee.

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