On June 15th Vancouver was the scene of a despicable riot after the Canucks Stanley Cup final loss to Boston. Over 100 people arrested so far, over $10 million in property damage and scores of innocent people injured.
Within hours I created www.CanucksRiot2011.com – a website where photos and videos of the criminal activity could be posted to assist Vancouver Police in identifying and bringing to justice these criminals. People were encouraged to post their information and also send to police.
Heck, the criminals themselves contributed by posting info to their Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Youtube streams.
As it stand, nearly 300 videos and hundreds of photos are available and nearly 400,000 people have visited the site. Many criminals have been identifyed, information sent to police and arrests made.
Media worldwide picked up this story and the social media / web angle. Yey for social media and the web!
Other riot reporting sites have popped up which is great – more eyeballs to ID criminals. Some sites, though, have a nasty flavour with rude comments and violent overtones.
Now the tide has turned where some people and pundits are suggesting our efforts are a “virtual lynch mob” and we should allow the police to investigate without citizen input.
So…let me address that.
We have a civic duty to assist law enforcement. In this case, hundreds of criminals vandalized property, destroyed law enforcement vehicles; assaulted citizens, set fires, attacked police, fire and ambulance attendants, etc. Posting photos of individuals involved in criminal activity and using our collective knowledge shared with the police to bring these folks to justice is perfect.
I hope more of this will happen.
But let’s say the old civic duty appeal does not work for you – then lets look at other motivators.
I’m talking about revenge.
Ex-boyfriends and girlfriends – see your ex in the photos / videos committing a crime? Report them!
Folks at work – remember when Johnny or Jane would not cover your shift? They have now committed a crime so report them!
Teachers – Nathan was a jerk all year, his rich parents would defend his bad actions at every turn and the Principal backed them up. For your own safety and the safety of other students review the photos / videos and report them!
Brothers and sisters – think about now much more room there would be at the house with one less person there! See your sibling committing a crime? Report them!
Bosses – trying to fire that underperforming hack but the union won’t let you? Find them in a photo or video committing a crime and report them!
To parents, remember that idiot guy or undeserving girl your child was dating? Want to show the world how right you are? You know the drill, find them and report them!
Regular folks, does it make you sick to your core that a bunch of morons trashed our city, made the evening of June 15th unsafe for all, caused millions of dollars in damage which you will pay for in higher taxes and you know the names of the criminals? Report them! Oooopps…not revenge…just being a good citizen and doing the right thing.
To report criminals from the riots you see in photo and videos from website like www.canucksriot2011.com:
Contact Vancouver Police Department at robbery@vpd.ca, call 1 (604) 717-2541 or leave an anonymous tip with Crimestoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477.
Dave I love all those pics with the fauxhawk, they always make me think you have meringue on your hair!
I remember when my friend visited Vancouver, and the first thing he said was that the city seem “scary” and that there’s something sinister about its facade.
I think this riots just confirms it.
i think the Lynching should continue, those who did this should forever be punished by social media for making our city look horrible.
hey really nice post ..