World Cup policing: Record deployment but fans were great, VPD says

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People celebrate during Canada’s 6-0 win over Qatar at the FIFA Fan Festival in the new PNE Amphitheatre on June 18. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

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Keeping watch over crowds attending the World Cup and watch parties led to the “largest deployment of police ever in Vancouver,” the VPD says.

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As many as 1,300 officers were out on the streets for each of the seven B.C. Place match days, the Vancouver Police Department said in a wrap-up news conference on Monday.

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“We planned and trained for this tournament for years and that planning paid off with a truly world-class event, while maintaining business continuity and our core policing duties across the city,” said Deputy Chief Const. Don Chapman, who was the lead for FIFA security planning and co-ordination.

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A huge contingent of others were involved in handing the crowds, including Vancouver Fire Rescue Services, B.C. Emergency Health Services, the B.C. Sheriffs Service and officers from the RCMP, Metro Vancouver Transit Police and officers on loan from Delta, Calgary and Edmonton.

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“We want to thank all contributing agencies for their work, and we want to thank everyone who came out to events across Vancouver for making sure the city shone for the 39-day tournament,” said Chapman.

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VPD Supt. Jeff Neuman said officers worked long hours at the fan zone, the Last Mile, the Granville entertainment district and watching over view parties, team hotels and “countless other tasks.”

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This all came while Vancouver is in the middle of its busiest cruise ship season, with over 100 ships in port and officers also keeping the peace at 118 protests during the run of the tournament.

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From June 11 to July 13, police responded to 18,489 calls for service, and average of 560 a day; 1,158 of those were “priority 1” calls, 35 per day. The downtown district alone took 5,224 calls, 158 per day.

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Granville’s pedestrian zone was busiest for police, but the VPD expected that and had lots of officers deployed there. Photo by OKSANA SHTOHRYN /PNG

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The Granville district was the busiest for police, with 36 arrests for things like assault and mischief and 99 for breach of peace. There were no arrests at B.C. Place itself and just three at the FIFA Fan Fest in east Vancouver, and only a total of 10 breach of peace incidents at all other venues.

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Forty-two people were arrested on Granville for intoxication and just six at the other sites.

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The arrests included 16 foreign nationals who were picked up for intoxication and/or breach of peace.

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Granville incidents were higher “but we anticipated that would happen and staffed accordingly,” said Neuman. “While it was busy over a sustained period, it was largely peaceful, with average daily arrests comparable to what we see in the Granville Entertainment District on a long weekend, especially when you factor in the number of people there on match days.”

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Chapman said it’s hard to say how many soccer fans were on Granville but the district “was certainly a huge draw during FIFA before, during and after matches.”

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Half a million people attended the fan fest at the PNE throughout the World Cup, including over 40,000 on Canada’s two match days against Qatar and Switzerland.

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“When you consider the fan festival alone saw roughly 500,000 visits with just three Criminal Code arrests, that speaks to positive fan behaviour and how effective our deployments were,” said Chapman.