VPD cruiser downtown covered with notes of gratitude

VPD cruiser downtown covered with notes of gratitude
Car sits opposite boarded up walls at The Bay on Granville
Tamara Slobogean Jun 17, 2011 07:23:26 AM
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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - For years, we've been seen as laid-back, laissez-faire, and even apathetic. But that perception of Vancouver is now being challenged after the Stanley Cup riot.

Aside from a growing wall of apologies outside The Bay on Granville and Georgia Streets, there's also a new expression of gratitude. A Vancouver Police cruiser covered in Post-it notes now sits opposite the boarded-up walls; it is smothered in messages like "You guys protected us" and "Thank you. God bless you."

They're almost enough to choke up VPD Inspector Rick Smitas. "Overwhelming emotion... I think it's not only a symbol of support for the Vancouver Police Department, but for community -- that there were a few, but there were only a few."

Smittus says the cruiser was parked by two officers responding to a call yesterday afternoon; they returned to find the first few notes of support.

As this man stops to check it out, he tells us he believes what we survived as a city has moved us to act:

"Wednesday night, I couldn't sleep -- and it had nothing to do with the loss of the game. It was the shame that came with what happened," he says.

"We don't need any troublemakers in this city at all. You want to come down with your family and friends and know you're safe."

A mall security guard says people have been adding personal notes to the cruiser all night with messages of gratitude in at least four languages.

Costs of riot starting to tally up

From mass-wreckage to pristine streets: The litter is gone, the shards of glass are as though they were never here. Now, the costs are coming in.

ICBC says it has opened a claims office dedicated to dealing with riot-related losses. The insurer has logged 25 claims so far. Police say another 17 cars damaged by fire are coming.

It was business as usual at London Drugs on Georgia Street by mid-day yesterday, but the company estimates up to $1 million in losses between stolen merchandise and general destruction.