VANCOUVER - There's new evidence the Vancouver police were warned about a possible riot days before violence broke out during the final game of the Stanley Cup playoffs on June 15.
The warning is contained in documents from the office of Karen Ayers, a senior official with the liquor control branch, who said there had been growing crowds, high levels of intoxication and some violence following an earlier game on June 10th.
In the note, she warns the liquor branch expects even larger crowds for the final game, more drunkenness and violence, and what she calls "pre-riotous behaviour".
In the document, Ayers talks about a conference call on the issue that included Vancouver Deputy Police Chief Doug Lepard and several other police officers.
However, Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu has said consistently the police had no advance intelligence there would be a riot.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson insists the police were prepared for trouble, but no one could have predicted the scale of the mayhem that broke out, including widespread looting and cars being set on fire.
