Vancouver police deny that they were warned about a possible riot days before violence broke out after Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, slamming media reports to the contrary as "wrong and untrue."
The alleged warning is contained in documents from the office of Karen Ayers, a senior official with the liquor control branch, who appears to warn of "pre-riotous behaviour" including heavy drinking and violence during a Canucks playoff game on June 10, five days before a riot broke out.
The Vancouver Police Department issued a statement Thursday afternoon, saying that the story -- circulated by several media outlets, including ctvbc.ca -- "is being fed by wrong information and misguided conclusions."
In the note, it appears that Ayers warns that the liquor branch expects even larger crowds for the final game and more drunkenness and violence. She talks about a conference call on the issue that included Vancouver Deputy Police Chief Doug Lepard and several other police officers.
According to the VPD, the warning about public drinking actually came from police officers and other emergency workers.
Ayers confirmed in an interview with CTV News that all of her information came from police.
She said it would be an "exaggeration" to report that she had warned police about the possibility of a riot.
"I had no inkling and I think it's fair to say that no one, including me, contemplated that there would be a riot," she said.
Police say there is nothing new in the documents.
"It is the same information the VPD gave to the media at the time and it is the same information widely reported in all the riot reviews as having come from the VPD," the statement says.
A media release from police after the June 10 game says that officers "were kept busy" with alcohol-related calls and liquor pour-outs, but there were "no significant incidents of note reported."
Department spokeswoman Const. Jana McGuinness told CTV News at the time that the crowd of about 100,000 fans that gathered downtown was generally well-behaved.
"We're certainly coming across a lot of liquor and we're dealing with it, but we need to remind people there's just no place for it in crowds of this size," she said.
Police are adamant that they had no warning that a riot was on the way.
"Despite these unalterable facts, stories are still being generated that say the VPD knew a riot was coming because the LCLB told them. This is absolutely false," the statement says.
"As difficult as it may be for some to hear, the VPD had no creditable information from anyone that a riot was about to occur."
The department is also goading members of the media to come forward with any information they may have had pointing to a riot before the chaos of June 15.
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.
With files from The Canadian Press
