Responding to the Vancouver riots: Cleaning up our city

What happened last night (you have seen it in the news and all over Twitter. We even trended worldwide. How embarrassing) is just one of those things I can’t wrap my head around. With all the research that people have done on mobs, mob mentality and social networks, I don’t think anyone could have predicted the outcome of what happened last night in Vancouver. Personally, I think the response of the Vancouver Police Department was very measured and firefighters, police officers and heroes who tried to stop looting and attacks on businesses are to be commended.

I wasn’t in the thick of it. I was attending the President’s Ball at the Canadian Chefs Conference (CCFCC2011) at the Renaissance Hotel, near Thurlow and West Hastings, and thus not really in any real danger. I debated whether to stay downtown or head home, and thankfully Julia drove both Melody and myself home. As we drove through we realized that the riots had been mostly concentrated within the vicinity of Georgia and Hamilton, Robson and Granville, that 6-block-radius area.

I’m embarrassed by the actions of a few, but amazed and proud at the actions of thousands who are repulsed by the behavior of those thugs who initiated the riots. Two things that I would ask my readers:

1) If you have footage or photos, please submit directly to the Vancouver Police Department (robbery at vpd dot ca) – remember, they need more information and context. Uploading them to Facebook helps with identification but it would be more helpful if you can provide more information.

2) If you can, please join Vancouver Clean (Facebook page here) and help clean up our city. I’ll be joining after a work meeting I have at 10:30am.

And more importantly, let’s remember that this was just a few thugs, probably fueled by alcohol. They were certainly not Vancouver Canucks fans.