Protest planners reach out to VPD

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Anti-Wall Street organizers in Vancouver want some advice from the police on how to hold their own downtown protest planned for October 15th.

Min Reyes with Occupy Vancouver says they have invited Vancouver Police to their general meeting this Saturday afternoon and welcome tips the VPD can offer on how to keep things safe for the occupation.

Hundreds of people have been arrested in similar protests in New York and Seattle.

Reyes says they have talked about isolating people who might become violent.”I have met with a lot of these organizers during the last week and I think we are all for a peaceful movement.  But we do understand that there might be people with specific agendas,” says Reyes.

She adds they plan to set up a special area for youngsters and want police to stay clear of it.

“There will be a zone called P zone, where there will be children.  We wanted to make sure that should the police be required to take any action, they are fully aware beforehand that there is a zone that we need to protect,” she says.

“During the general assembly we will deal with how are we going to proceed once we identify somebody who is violent.  I’m not sure if we will be working with the police in terms of letting them know that there [are] certain person[s] here who are trying to be violent,” says Reyes.

She says she thinks a few hundred people may show up to the October 15th protest but she’s been told that’s a low estimate.

Meanwhile, Vancouver Police Constable Jana McGuinness says they met with some of the Occupy Vancouver organizers today.

“We just expressed that any demonstration that’s peaceful and lawful is welcome in Vancouver.  And it’s still a little bit early, we don’t really know how many people will be coming into the city for this,” she says.

McGuinness adds police have been watching social media to see how the event is unfolding.

“It’s not uncommon for us in past demonstrations to meet with organizers in advance.  We can assist in facilitating a demonstration or a protest safely, especially along a particular route that’s been identified.  We definitely welcome that sort of dialogue.”

The Vancouver company credited with sparking the movement to Occupy Wall Street is not concerned the downtown protest will lead to another riot in Vancouver like the Stanley Cup smashup.
    
Lauren Berkovitch with Adbusters isn’t expecting trouble at Occupy Vancouver.

“As we have watched people sleep and occupy in New York for countless days now, it’s been non-violent the entire time,” says Berkovitch.  “I think that is not an issue.  I think that people are going there with the intent to get their voices heard and not to get really drunk and start a riot.”
    
Vancouver City staff they are monitoring the leadup to the Occupy Vancouver protest.

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