Red Mitten Premier Gordon Campbell could have offered VPD the use of ICBC facial-recognition technology in the aftermath of the 2010 Riot, but didn't.

What's this you say, a riot in downtown Vancouver in 2010, during the Olympics.  Not True.   The last riot that happened in Vancouver was in 1994.

Vancouver has had THREE riots.

Two directly related to a loss in Hockey in Game 7s, seventeen years apart; one related to the 2010 Winter Olympics within two nights of the event opening.   The last two riots happened less than year and a half from each other, and they were both a result of black clad (hooded)(balaclava) individuals being the instigators. 

The CBC, in its extended coverage of the Wednesday night riot, had Peter Mansbridge referring to the hooligans as the "Black Bloc".

Wouldn't it be interesting to see if the 2009 ICBC facial-technology could be used to compare the hooligans from 2010 to the hooligans of 2011?   They'd be easy to find, they're wearing masks, and the only thing that VPD needs via ICBC is this:

Link to images

Masks that are held tight across the face, still reveal the necessary components that make the identification possible.   In other words, those that attacked the Hudson Bay Company on Wednesday night, in all likelihood, were repeat offenders from 2010, something that the Courts should be apprised of when deciding upon the consequences that should be served by the rioters.

 Its not like those rioters from 1994 came here for a repeat performance, win or lose.   I'd say that last year's riot perps came back for the electronic goods, big time.    London Drugs sustained over a Million Dollars in damages to property and stolen electronic gear.


15 cars were destroyed by the rioters on June 15, 2011, which means, OUR insurance rates are going UP!

ICBC facial technology has been around for over two years:

ICBC camera led police to government files breach

Saturday, December 05, 2009

.......Exactly one week later, on Feb. 13, Richard Ernest Wainwright walked into an ICBC customer centre to renew his licence and pose for a new photograph, according to the information police used to obtain a search warrant.
A short time later, ICBC’s facial-recognition software matched his picture to an expired learner’s licence in the name of Richard Ernest Perran, the documents say.
ICBC’s special investigations unit was alerted and a special constable “physically compared the photographs of Richard Ernest Perran to Richard Ernest Wainwright and felt that both driver record photographs were of the same person,” the search warrant documents show. ........           Times Colonist

  

ICBC offers facial-recognition technology to Vancouver police’s riot investigation

“Subject to receipt of a court order, the corporation’s facial-recognition technology will be able to support the identification of suspects,” states a news release issued today (June 17) by Premier Christy Clark’s office." - By Stephen Hui, June 17, 2011  Straight.com

In two consecutive years, under the watch of the BC Liberals, the provincial government has let us down.   The technology to catch these guys has been hoarded by ICBC.   Why?   Why didn't Premier Gordon Campbell throw down his gauntlet of red mittens and launch ICBC against last year's criminals?  Why wait for a year to go by to stop these guys in their tracks?


For those of our immediate community, or those from overseas, if you have any photographs from 2010, pass them onto the VPD.


In 2010 the police were prepared for orderly protesters to the Olympics, the hooligans gained a foothold, and seven were charged.  This year, there was a much smaller police contingent, and the hooligans went for their targets within the Georgia and Granville Street intersection, but the police made over 100 arrests that night, and more charges are pending.

 update   June 25th, 2011

Planning a crime? Your driver's licence could be star witness against you

 

By Gillian Shaw, Vancouver Sun June 25, 2011

When ICBC took the photo for your driver's licence, did anyone mention it could end up being scanned to see if you committed a crime?

No, but why hasn't the police forces of British Columbia purchased the same technology for their mug shots to be used in conjunction to surveillance footage for break and enters or other acts of crime?