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Vancouver police chief: Only law-abiding citizens welcome downtown for playoffs

Jim Chu

Last week, Vancouver Police Department Chief Jim Chu declared the city’s anti-riot philosophy for this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs would be “don’t come downtown.”

The new philosophy was markedly different than last year’s, which was “get wasted, come downtown and we’ll cram everyone into a city block and hope for the best.”

But presumably the new plan didn’t sit well with downtown businesses that cash in during the playoffs, so Chu clarified his comments over the weekend – it’s okay to come downtown, but only if you behave yourselves.

Tough but fair.

“At all times and during the hockey playoffs, the Vancouver Police are encouraging people to come downtown to enjoy our bars, restaurants, arenas, theaters, shopping and street ambience. Our focus is to make it safe for you to enjoy our city. You are not welcome in Vancouver if you intend to engage in public drinking, hooliganism and criminal behavior,” Chu said in a statement.

Hooligans and criminals have yet to respond to repeated requests for comment.