VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - It seems people are blaming our civic leaders more for the Stanley Cup riot, if ever-so slightly. A telephone survey of 400 people in Vancouver by
NRG Research found an increase in blame leveled at city and police officials.
"The average rating for responsibility went up from 4.4 to 5.1. And both the
City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Department are in the middle of the pack," explains NRG's Tim Chan.
"On average, [up] 0.8, from 4.9 to 5.7 [for the city] while the Vancouver Police went up from 4.4 to 5.1," he says, noting most of the people they asked still blame so-called committed agitators and people who drank too much alcohol for the chaos.
"Those are really the groups that the city of Vancouver residents feel who are responsible for the riot," says Chan
They didn't ask people why they felt the city and police were more responsible. "But I think this reflects [that] there's been definitely more speculation and discussion since the riots happened in June. It's a story that keeps on giving, so it's still at the front of people's mind[s]."
The VPD has been roundly criticized for the time it has taken to recommend charges, but the force says it won't rush the process just to satisfy people's desire for justice and risk not getting charges laid or convictions secured at all.
The force says it is planning to recommend 40 charges to the Crown by the end of October.