New Additions

Despite RCMP Chief Superintendent Bob Harriman's recent statements in the Globe and Mail that there will be "no new technologies...employed during the Olympics" and that the Games won't be "a showcase for new stuff," it looks like the Vancouver Police department has invested in at least one "armoured rescue vehicle" (read: tank) in an attempt to curb security threats during the Games.

The tank will be bullet and small explosive proof, says Chief Constable Jamie Graham in the Georgia Straight.

Apparently, the tank will only be used by the VPD's Emergency Response or SWAT team. It's doubtful you'll see regular members of the VPD taking this mean machine out on the town. They'll have to make do with their horses.

Also in the Straight, Sgt. Norm Webster charmingly spins the "unassuming" tank as a "rescue vehicle" intended to "protect our citizens." Who gets rescued in a tank? Furthermore, how will the knowledge that the VPD has one tank in its fleet make the common citizen feel any safer? I think that if we need to consider buying tanks to create an aura of safety in this city during the Games, perhaps the Games shouldn't be happening here....

I can't help but feel that all this talk of terrorist threats during the Games is a subtle mask for the types of threats VANOC etc know they can anticipate. And the use of a tank, even as a symbol, to quell dissent is very disturbing.

The Straight makes the links I'm talking about here. The article ends with, "Graham and Webster didn’t tell the board what kind of situations before and during the Olympics will require the use of this vehicle. Anti-poverty, environmental, and aboriginal groups have vowed to step up protests against the games."

You can read more about the new addition to the Vancouver Police force on Bear604's blog from March 16th.

The photo of the tank comes from Superciliousness.