Police Officer Loses it at a Guns N' Roses concert riot

Guns N Roses are back in the news, but this time its not because of Axl Rose. After a GNR concert is cancelled a Canadian crowd goes wild and two Vancouver police officers used excessive and unnecessary force against the crowd.
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VANCOUVER (CP) - Two Vancouver police officers used excessive and unnecessary force against concert-goers caught in a riot after a Guns N' Roses show was cancelled, a lawyer for the B.C. Police Complaints Commission said Wednesday.

Vancouver police officer Reg Forster "lost it" the night of the riot when he used his baton like a "cross-check" to smash a concert-goer in the face during the melee, said Dana Urban. However, Bill Smart, who is representing Forster and Const. Ryan D'Onofrio, said in the din and flying glass of the riot, the officers acted to control people they perceived to be threats to themselves and to others.

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not to make light of this but...

a whole group of people RIOT but they're focusing on two cops trying to do their job? i am not making excuses but two cops getting a little stick friendly pales in comparison to a crowd turned rioting mob.

cause and effect. dont riot and you dont get clubbed.

They should've had more cops there. They should know by now either, the crowd will get out of control during the show or Axl will attack someone again.

no kidding, this isnt the first time there's been trouble at a GNR concert. and wont be the last.

people need to stop acting like babies and having adult temper tantrums. what are they? 4 years old?

They needed more staff on hand to keep things under control for sure. They shouldn't be armed with anything either, except maybe mace or something for a last resort. I am in no way suggesting that an angry Riot of Concert Go-ers isn't a very dangerous thing either, cause it is and stuff like that can end up hurting lots of innocent people or killing them even. However, it should be done in a certain way so as not to Insight More Crazy behavior or Mame anyone in the process.

Smashing people in the face with a club is gong to make things worse and just piss people off even more. The idea is to calm them down the best you can and keep things from getting to the point where 'Skull Crushing' becomes the thing to do. At least with mace you can still disable someone from fighting if needed. A baton to the head can kill someone or leave them messed up for life though and that stuff needs to stop!!

In my opinion, a few new laws outta be passed....you run from the cops........like high speed car chase, footchase through good folks yards.........steal a car , run.....hop out o movin stolen car and let it hit " whatever".....they [ cops] are now free to beat you w/in an inch o your life....ala r. king

you are seen looting, rioting....they can shoot on sight.....not to mention beat the crap outta ya

then .after law is passed....and the first sob who gets caught on tape getting worked over by the cops.....this crap might stop.

I have to agree w/ mojom on this one. Now, I'm not saying there aren't bad cops out there, cuz there are, but it seems that the public and the media love to exploit these "Cops Gone Wild" type situations. They are just trying to do their jobs and help protect the public, but when people percieve them as the enemy, they get put in situations where they must now protect themselves and their partners. Thier personal saftey takes priority over anyone elses because, just I have been taught, a dead or injured police offier cannot protect anyone.

I don't know what the laws are up in the Great White North, but I know down here it the great ol' US of A, the rights of police officers have been gradually taken away and given to the criminals. Bottom line, if you don't want to get beat down, DON"T RIOT, DON'T RUN, just don't break the law, period, and let these good men do their jobs.

They should have turned the hoses on these idiots. I mean cmon. This is Guns N Roses. I didn't even know they were still around. This isn't the early 90's anymore people. Time to riot over a new band.

It was a vicious hit, they kept showoing it on the news over and over for a good 2 weeks when it happened. They guy that was hit, was not being violent, and to me did not even look like a threat. Some other officers were talking to him, when out of nowhere another cop ran in and smashed him inthe face with his club. Rediculous, I hope someone gets fired or sued over this.

They should have all been clubbed for paying money to see Guns N Roses in the first place LOL. Seriously though, what do people expect? I know this sounds corny but COPS ARE HUMAN. put them in a stressful situation and they will react just like everyone else. And don't give me the "They are trained for this" answer. No amount of training will turn a hammer into a carrot. We tend to expect our authority figures to be as gods. We want to believe that they will always act justly, always know the correct procedure. When they don't, we get all upset. "How can they do that? Why, cops must be evil and oppressive." Remember guys, "Cops have feelings too." Saw that on a bumper sticker and almost drove off the road I was laughing so hard.