Vancouver police officers will continue to carry "carbine rifles" during the annual Pride parade weekend and at other mass gatherings in the city, despite a complaint from a citizen who argued the large guns are unnecessary and “an intimidation tactic.”
The Vancouver Police Board received the written complaint following the Pride parade in August 2024 after the citizen observed officers carrying the weapons at the Kitsilano side of the Burrard Bridge.
“The VPD officer staffing the traffic block as the bridge was shut down for the Pride parade was openly carrying an assault rifle in a ready-to-use position with his hand on the trigger,” the complainant said.
“There is no way the VPD needs military weapons to maintain a traffic closure. That is unacceptable and especially given the context of the groups of people crossing the bridge to the parade. It is an intimidation tactic and bordering on hate crime.”
The complainant’s name was redacted from the written complaint, which went before the police board Jan. 23. The board dismissed the complaint after hearing from Insp. Jeff Neuman of the VPD’s emergency and operational planning section.
Neuman also wrote a report addressing the complaint.
“The deployment of heavy vehicle barriers with dedicated carbine-equipped members, especially given the ongoing history of vehicle attacks and targeting of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, is necessary to ensure public safety and is risk effective in preventing and mitigating catastrophes,” his report said.
Neuman described the parade as a “complex event,” with the route covering more than three kilometres and having 93 traffic points. The event requires temporary road closures, temporary fencing and barriers, including the placement of large vehicles such as dump trucks to block potential threats.
The approach is common at Remembrance Day events.
2SLGBTQ+ community
Neuman cited the concern with “vehicle intrusions” that have occurred in other parts of the world, where people have intentionally driven vehicles into crowds, killing dozens and injuring others.
He pointed to an incident in New Orleans on New Year's Eve, where 14 people were killed and 30 others injured, including two police officers. In December, an SUV was driven into a crowd at a German Christmas market, killing five people.
Neuman said Canada has not been immune to such violence, with incidents occurring in Edmonton, Toronto, London, Ont., and Quebec.
The 2SLGBTQ+ community continues to be a target of hate in Vancouver and elsewhere in the world, he said, adding that the “most egregious event in North America” was the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida, where 49 people were killed.
In 2024, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service issued a public warning that said “inspired lone actors” could target crowded or unsecured Pride events and 2SLGBTQ+ venues, according to Neuman’s report.
The warning followed the U.S. government travel advisory of potential “foreign terrorist organization-inspired violence” against the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
The Canadian Integrated Threat Assessment Centre advises that anti‐2SLGBTQ+ sentiment remains “a persistent narrative among ideologically and religiously motivated extremists,” his report said.
'Support their expertise'
ABC Vancouver Coun. Peter Meiszner, who will bring a motion to council next month to have block parties return during Pride weekend, agreed with the police board’s conclusion that officers equipped with carbines are necessary at large events.
Meiszner said the VPD are the experts on public safety and crowd management.
“I understand that seeing large weapons is unsettling for some members of the public, but I believe that’s what's required,” he said. “If the police think it's necessary, then I support their expertise.”
BIV left phone and email messages Monday for the Vancouver Pride Society, but did not receive a response before publication of this story.
In December 2018, the police board dismissed a similar complaint regarding the sight of officers equipped with carbine rifles during Italian Day on Commercial Drive.
At the time, the complainant suggested the presence of “over-armed police is both intimidating and triggering to a lot of the general public. It doesn’t make people feel safer or protected, it looks like fascism you would expect in third world dictatorships.”
The police report in response to that complaint described the advantages of the rifles.
“When equipped with the modern electronic sight, the carbine is both incredibly fast and extremely accurate at distances much farther than handguns, and could achieve a disabling shot, including in crowd situations,” said the report, noting "almost all major cities in North America would include long rifle over-watch where the public has gathered in large public spaces."
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