Since the riots that broke out following Game 7 between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks in June, the Vancouver police have asked the citizenry for their assistance in identifying suspects. Most of this has been done through social media efforts on Facebook.
On Wednesday, the police decided to go old school … OK, maybe "Old West" school. They issued a de facto Wanted poster. Smile, morons.
This is only a segment of the larger poster (.pdf) that features images of 104 suspects the police haven't identified. They're going to hand out 35,000 of these things, through the work of 150 volunteers.
From the Vancouver PD:
Sergeant Howard Chow with the Integrated Riot Investigation Team (IRIT) issued an update late this afternoon saying, "The 35,000 posters our army of volunteers have been handing out have already had a major impact. We've been receiving tips all afternoon regarding the photos in the poster.
Volunteers handing out the posters have been met with a positive response, as in several instances where employees at local businesses have taken away stacks of posters to hand out to their staff members.
Volunteers have also been approached by people who think they recognize someone in the poster.
Anyone with information is asked to go to the riot2011.vpd.ca website where they can help identify suspected rioters.
According to the Vancouver Sun, police had "recommended 163 charges against 60 people accused of rioting and vandalism" and predict that number could climb to 700.
The police have taken their share of the blame for what went down in the riot, and rightfully so. We have a feeling they're not going to be giving up the chase anytime soon. Say hello to your Inspector Javert, rioters; don't go thinking this makes you Jean Valjean.