Vancouver police chief challenges riot critic’s credibility

Vancouver Chief Constable Jim Chu during an interview with the Globe and Mail at his office in Vancouver December 17, 2009. - Vancouver Chief Constable Jim Chu during an interview with the Globe and Mail at his office in Vancouver December 17, 2009. | John Lehmann/Globe and Mail

On the defensive over planning and response to last week’s Stanley Cup riot, Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu has launched an attack on one of his most outspoken critics.

In an internal e-mail to VPD staff – provided to the media on Tuesday – Mr. Chu took aim at the person widely identified by the media in recent days as an investigator of the 1994 Stanley Cup riot for the B.C. Police Commission.

In several interviews and news stories, Bob Whitelaw was critical of the VPD’s riot readiness. He also said the department ignored several recommendations made in the ’94 report that looked into errors made by police in responding to the Stanley Cup riot that year.

The provincial government has launched an independent review to determine whether the recommendations were followed and how well the police and the city planned for crowd control when more than 100,000 people were expected to pour into the downtown core to watch the game on massive, open-air screens.

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