Policing downtown crowds during a Stanley Cup run by the Canucks could cost almost $1 million, and Vancouver police aren't ruling out asking the province for help footing the bill.
In a report set to be presented to the police board Wednesday night, Insp. Rick McKenna predicts that policing for the final round alone could run up a tally of more than $645,000 for staffing.
The total minimum price tag for policing crowds during a full end-run by the home team would be $968,232, though McKenna cautions that cost could rise if crowds get out of control.
The estimates are based on the Canucks making it all the way to the Stanley Cup final in four seven-game series.
If the Canucks last all the way through to game seven of the finals, policing costs are predicted to rise to almost $136,000 per game, with more than 300 officers deployed for five-hour shifts on game nights.
In his report, McKenna writes that the police board might ask the B.C. government for help with the bill, "given that attendees to this somewhat spontaneous even come primarily from other parts of the Lower Mainland."
The estimated staffing costs for this year's playoffs mark a fourfold increase over the actual costs for policing the 2007 post-season, when the Canucks were eliminated in the second round.
However, police expect that lingering sports mania following the Olympics will lead more people to leave their homes to gather on Granville and Robson Streets.
"We can predict that the crowds in this ‘post-Olympic' sport celebratory atmosphere will be larger than most years," McKenna wrote.
But the projected costs do not approach those incurred by the Edmonton police force in 2006, when as many as 300 officers were deployed at a time, bringing the total final price to more than $2 million.
