Police have made
progress since 1971

1T WAS a sunny, pleasant
Friday evening in August,
1971. A large number of
raggedy clothed young peo-
ple were wandering their
way through the streets of
Gastown, heading for a sit-
in designed to taunt Mayor
Tom Campbell and tke
authorities.

They actually called it a
‘*smoke-in.”’ There was grass of
the cannabis varicty — the aroma
was unmistakable — but the giant
smoking symbol of the event was
made of hay.

This was a party. I looked
down from the second storey at I
Alexander St. upon this goofy
bunch of kids. Even the under-
cover police in Hawaiian shirts
(they might just have well have
hung a neon “‘COP”’ sign around
their necks) seemed to be enjoying
the Mardi Gras spirit.

None of us knew that history
would be made that night. These
youngsters with their mixed-up
motives were to have a resounding
positive impact on the sophistica-
tion of Canadian police.

There was a riot that night. The
kids didn’t riot. The police did.

As the party gathered steam, a
couple of restless participants
started to climb up the north side
of the one-storey tip of the Hotel
Europe.

At that moment, police Inspec-
tor Robert Abercrombie walked
out into the square. Out of his
line of sight, he heard breaking
glass. It was just useless burnt out
neon, cracked by the joyful
climbers.

To Abercrombie, it sounded
like the feared riot was erupting.
He ordered the crowd to disperse,
but his megaphone didn’t work.
The crowd laughed at him, and
made rude gestures.

Unknown to any of us, scores
of police officers had been waiting
in stifling hot vans without
washroom facilities for two hours.
The horse squad, in full riot gear,
nervously waited with them in the
alleys.

When Abercrombie ordered his
forces to end the demonstration,
most of the people believed a full
riot was in progress. The horses
trampled into the crowd. Soon
bricks, bodies and whirling
nightsticks seemed to be flying ev-
erywhere.

At the height of the action, |
urgently called three aldermen to
the scene: Art Phillips, Ed
Sweeney and Harry Rankin. They
came. I tried unsuccessfully to
reach Mayor Campbell.

Late in the evening, as | stood
at the side of Maple Tree Square
with Art Phillips, a police cruiser

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not-so-gently drove into us, 2
gesture designed to urge us along.
When the prominent alderman
turned to glower at the policeman,
there was genuine fear in the
driver’s eyes.

The most astonishing thing
about that night was that no one
was killed.

At first, the sedentary public
refused to believe the police were
the villains. But through many
analyses, including a formal in-
quiry, it became abundantly clear
that the police, in their mechaniz-
ed modern world, had lost touch
with the community. They were
ill-trained in crowd contro); ill-
informed and, in many cases,
badly led.

Robert Stewart, a third genera-
tion police officer, announced
recently that he is stepping down
as Vancouver Police Chief after a
long and distinguished career.

This thoroughly modern police
officer has been honored in
various parts of the world. Were
it not for the Gastown Riot, it is
doubtful whether he or his friend
and predecessor Don Winterton,
ever would have become chief.

When the judicial inquiry into
the Gastown event took place,
Vancouver Chief John Fisk
seconded Staff Sgt. Don Winter-
ton to be his principal aide. On
his other side was Staff Sgt. Bob
Stewart, then the president of the
police union.

When Fisk — an honorable
man — retired under this negative
cloud, Art Phillips was the new

mayor. As chairman of the Police
Commission in 1973, he presided
over the chief selection process.

Along with the deputy chiefs
and superintendents to apply for
the top job, came two somewhat
brash and presumptuous young
inspectors, Don Winterton and
Bob Stewart.

It was Winterton who won the
day.

During his interview, when it
was suggested that he was too
young — at 42 — to be chief, the
applicant just smiled. He said the
voters of Vancouver, just a few
moaths earlier, had chosen a 42-
year-old to be mayor. Mayor
Phillips was charmed by the pres-
entation.

it took three years before Bob
Stewart became deputy chief, but
it was a dynamic team from the
beginning.

Winterton was as masterful at
politics, diplomacy and public
relations as Stewart was at opera-
tional police work. By the time
Stewart became chief in 1981,
Vancouver was increasingly
regarded as one of the most
enlightened urban police forces
anywhere.

Stewart became a skilled com-
municator himself. He was able to
dispense with his predecessor's
smooth and carefui approach to
public issues. Stewart simply told
the truth. Open, forthright and
with a minimum of dithering.

The hallmark of this two-chief
era, a period of 17 years, has been
community involvement. It is im-
possible to be promoted in the
Vancouver Police Department
without paying your dues in direct
public contact, either as a liaison
officer with citizen’s groups, a
**spokesman’’ or a public speaker.

As he retires, Stewart says he is
proudest of the advances he has
fostered in police education.

But he chuckles at one memory.
**When | started 37 years ago, I
was told that I was getting into
police work at just the right
time,” the chief recalls. ‘“We were
on the verge of a metropolitan
police force — one for all of
Greater Vancouver.

Almost four decades later, we
still have a mish-mash of
municipal forces and various
RCMP detachments.

Perhaps Bob Stewart’s most
significant creation is yet to come.
Se

Sunday, November 11 ,

1990 - North Shore News ~ 9

Lower power consumption urged

From page 8

Buildings involved in the Norti
Shore Power Smart Challenge are
North Vancouver City’s municipal
hall, the city fire hall on 13th
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In North Vancouver District,
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Park Royal, Lynn Valley Cen-
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The Power Smart campaign was
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promotions and incentives that
encourage energy users (oO cut
down on their consumption.

To date, over 100 GWh have
been saved, enough electricity to
power 10,000 homes for one year.

Bob Favelle of BC Hydro says
such savings mean that billion-
dollar hydroelectric projects such
as the one planned for ‘‘Site C’’
on the Peace River can be
postponed.

For more information on
Power Smart programs, call 293-
W777.

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