Pubdate: Fri, 29 May 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Tiffany Crawford
Page: A8

POLICE WILL SEEK TO RECOUP COSTS FROM UNLICENSED EVENTS

Announcement follows death during rave in Stanley Park

Vancouver police will begin to track down promoters of unsanctioned
events such as raves and festivals to recover policing costs.

The announcement Thursday follows the death last weekend of a
23-year-old man who fell off a cliff in Stanley Park during what
police called an unlicensed rave. It also comes a day before a bike
rave, planned for Friday night.

Vancouver police spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham says if authorities know
about an event in advance, they can staff it with the appropriate
number of officers. But if a 911 call comes in about a rave at 2 a.m.,
for example, the department will over-deploy resources and send dozens
of officers because they don't know the extent of any potential risk.

That can add up to tens of thousands of dollars in policing costs for
one event, he said. Police recently faced this problem during the 4/20
marijuana demonstration that drew an estimated 20,000 people into the
city's downtown core last month, as well as the May Day protest on
Commercial Drive. Although billed as a protest, the 4/20 event
included dozens of vendors setting up kiosks near the Vancouver Art
Gallery.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has said the city can't force the
4/20 organizers to get permits because they are hosting a
demonstration and not an event or festival. However, the city and
police are trying to address the situation ahead of next year's rally.

"We have reached out to the organizers and we have told them that (in
future) they would have to follow the same rules as other
similar-sized events in the city, which would mean an event permit,
which would mean costs (for) VPD, sanitation, traffic," city spokesman
Tobin Postma said.

During the recent May Day festival, which attracted more than 5,000
revellers, police had to call in extra resources after a peaceful
protest in the Commercial Drive area turned violent. During the melee,
one person was stabbed and three people were arrested.

Policing costs for this year's 4/20 event have been tallied at around
$50,000, while the May Day event on Commercial ran up a $90,000 bill,
Fincham said. Police suspect Friday night's bike rave could cost
around $10,000.

"It's expensive, and if we don't know how many people are going, we
can't staff in advance," Fincham said. "And it leaves the taxpayer on
the hook for something that we could have staffed appropriately."

The VPD has never before tried to recoup losses from promoters.
Organizers of the 4/20 and May Day events won't likely be billed, as
the VPD won't retroactively seek damages.

"We are not actively looking at going after past event promoters,
although that's not completely out of the question. Going forward, we
feel that it is appropriate to advise a would-be promoter that they
may be on the hook if a large-scale police presence is required to
manage their crowd," Fincham said.

City staff would be involved in billing the promoters of unsanctioned
events.

"In this case, the VPD would send us the billing details for the event
organizer and then we would send out an invoice to them. If the
organizer fails to pay, then it would go to the collections team in
our legal department," Postma said.

Warm summer weather means police see a number of large, unsanctioned
gatherings in the city and in parks, such as bike raves and outdoor
music events, which in recent years have grown significantly, swelling
from small demonstrations to rowdy crowds of thousands.

"Social media is a killer," he said. "You can invite so many people to
these events anonymously."
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MAP posted-by: Matt