Teams and tech unleashed to identify, prosecute rioters
By Contributor
The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch has put in place a team of professional Crown prosecutors who will work with police and lead all aspects of the prosecution related to the June 15 riot, Premier Christy Clark announced Friday.
Evidence amassed in the coming weeks will determine the ultimate size and extent of the prosecutorial team required.
“The extraordinary events of Wednesday night profoundly affected not only Vancouverites, but all British Columbians,” said Premier Clark.
“There is a shared resolve – by citizens, police, the courts, business people and government – to bring all of those responsible to justice. As a government, we are fully committed to doing what we can to support those efforts, and to ensuring this type of incident never happens again.”
The RCMP and Lower Mainland police agencies have agreed to work with the VPD in an Integrated Coordinated Investigation Team (CIT), which includes major case investigators, who will work in support of the VPD investigation into the criminal activity that occurred at the time of the Stanley Cup Game Seven in Vancouver.
As well, ICBC has contacted VPD. Subject to receipt of a court order, the corporation’s facial-recognition technology will be able to support the identification of suspects. Since 2009, ICBC has used this technology to protect customers from identity theft and fraud related to driver licences.
In the days and weeks ahead, government will look to learn from this experience and work with Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and VPD Chief Jim Chu to look at what can better prevent another incident like Wednesday night.
The Province has also launched a new Facebook page – www.facebook.com/BCHeroes – to give British Columbians a place to share their positive stories of volunteers, good Samaritans, emergency services personnel and others coming together in the true spirit of B.C. to clean up and recover from the riot.
The public is also being asked to send information about specific examples of bravery and heroism during the riots to heroes@gov.bc.ca. Those individuals will be publicly honoured in the weeks ahead.
Quick facts
- Citizens are encouraged to share photos, videos, text messages and other evidence with investigators.
- Call the Vancouver City Police Department at 604-717-3321, local police or any detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
- Photos may be sent anonymously to the Vancouver Police Department at robbery@vpd.ca
- Videos may be shared anonymously with to the department. Please upload them to Youtube as private videos and share them with robbery@vpd.ca
- Posts are also welcome through Twitter at #VPD.
- The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act allows ICBC to disclose information to police in order to comply with subpoenas, warrants and court orders.
- ICBC’s facial-recognition technology works by analyzing characteristics that do not change, such as the size and location of cheekbones and the distance between the eyes.
