Vancouver, Canada: Vandals plaster Drive in fight against policing centre

Vandals plaster Drive in fight against policing centre
Posters accuse police of murder, promise revenge

Sandra Thomas, Vancouver Courier
Published: Friday, February 13, 2009

http://www2.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=d321cdc2-3fd3-4219-b836-1505cb05d46b&p=1

Anonymous vandals targeting the Grandview Woodland Community Policing Centre on Commercial Drive have plastered the neighbourhood with posters asking for help in forcing the non-profit centre from the neighbourhood.

On Wednesday, the Courier reported that vandals threw rocks through the windows of the centre three times in the past three months and that the centre faces a $16,000 bill to replace the glass and install protective rolling shutters. Grandview Woodland CPC board member Eileen Mosca told the Courier Thursday morning that by Wednesday evening the Drive was plastered with posters, which read, "We need countless pissed-off residents to openly denounce--in whatever way they can--the CPC, it's oppressive function, and the larger policing institution it sustains."

Mosca said the poster was an altered version of a poster she designed to raise funds to pay for the first set of replaced glass. The centre's volunteers were raising money by recycling old cellphones, which bring $1 a piece. At the top of the poster where Mosca had initially written, "Urgently needed: 2,740 discarded cellphones," the altered version reads: "Urgently needed: 2,740 discarded projectiles."

At 1:30 a.m. Thursday, a Vancouver Police Department video surveillance camera caught two people postering the front of the centre, which is now boarded up with plywood. But as in the past, the suspects were dressed in black clothing, including dark hoodies and masks, making them difficult to identify. Mosca called the act "cowardly" because the people behind the actions won't identify themselves or take responsibility for their actions. She wants to hear from a group member to find out their concerns.

The posters accuse the policing centre of being an "institution of social control working in the interests of the rich and promoting gentrification in the Commercial Drive area... They attempt to convey a friendly, community-oriented image in order to conceal the true nature of their activities." Another poster found on the Drive includes photographs of several men who've died during police incidents with messages that read, "Murdered by police" and "What goes around comes around." At the bottom of the poster are recent photographs of the vandalized centre, with "Grandview-Woodland Community Policing Centre" written below.

Mosca said one woman she spoke to about the posters said she hasn't seen such paranoia regarding the police since the 1960s. Mosca said the vandals' attempts to gather community support has backfired.

"At first people were dropping in here donating $20 or just showing their support because of the windows, but now they're mad," she said. "I had a guy drop in Wednesday night and he was livid. He said 'Who are these people?' He had already torn down 10 of the posters."

Mosca suspected the people behind the posters and vandalism are also responsible for placing anonymous posters along Commercial Drive last March asking for support in running a young family out of the community. The posters expressed anger because the family was supporting a parks board plan to redevelop Grandview Park.

The latest poster promises more vandalism until the centre closes permanently, something Mosca said won't happen.

"This has made us even more resolved to stay on the Drive," she said. "And it looks like the community is behind us. We're not going anywhere."

Michelle Barile, executive director of the Commercial Drive Business Society, couldn't comment on the posters, but said the policing centre is an important part of the community.

"We've worked collaboratively with them on many projects, like Movie in the Park and other BIA food bank fundraising events," said Barile. "It's a great resource to the community and we welcome their presence."

The VPD did not return phone calls before the Courier's press deadline.