An overwhelming number of police -- many clad in menacing black riot gear -- effectively laid down the law the last time Calgary held a major international forum.
That show of force on downtown streets during the World Petroleum Congress in June 2000 was unprecedented in Calgary and prompted talk of the city's ability to hold an event such as a G-8 summit.
The WPC was held in the aftermath of sudden violence that rocked the November 1999 meeting of the World Trade Organization -- the infamous Battle in Seattle -- and served as a wake-up call for the new era of destructive street protests.
Violent and vocal demonstrations that included a loose coalition of anarchist anti-globalization groups, environmentalists and human-rights activists would follow in Washington, D.C., Windsor, Ont., and Toronto.
Theses protests served to ratchet up the tension leading to the WPC.
As a manifestation of Big Oil, the pre-eminent gathering of petroleum industry powerbrokers was an ideal target for anarchists and anti-capitalist agitators.
Christine Silverberg, then chief of the Calgary Police Service, had other ideas. She put together a security program so complete and so effective many observers see it as the crowning achievement of her tenure as chief.
"The intelligence component was absolutely key. Our purpose in WPC very much was one of prevention and de-escalation," says Silverberg, now a security consultant.
"It was also a product of great strategy."
During the four-day conference, as many as 1,550 police officers from across western Canada, including multiple pepper spray-equipped riot squads and tactical teams descended on Calgary.
There was also an army of security personnel that created a labour shortage in the local private-security field.
Spotters -- perhaps sharpshooters -- could be seen perched on top of downtown office towers, while police helicopters flew overhead.
Police created a special command centre linked to other departments that might be affected by protests including fire, transit, municipal works and emergency medical services.
Mail and newspaper boxes were removed from downtown and manhole covers welded shut. Building owners covered up corporate logos, installed extra security cameras, hired extra guards and bought plywood to protect windows from protester vandalism.
A special armoured vehicle, used to extract personnel from riot situations as well as for crowd control was rented and kept downtown.
The core of the city, including an area encompassing the key venues of the Telus Convention Centre and the Jack Singer Concert Hall was surrounded by a two-metre-high metal fence and declared a no-go zone for all but WPC related personnel.
So overwhelming was the security that by the second day some of the police were sent home as protesters stayed away in droves.
Police joked of the protesters: "They came, they saw, they left."
The city's overall costs for the event -- which spun off about $15 million in economic activity -- were pegged at $2.2 million.
Some observers argued police and civic officials overreacted to the possibility of violence.
But Deputy Chief Rick Hanson believed then, and still believes, it was better to err on the side of caution.
"When you prevent something from happening, you're going to get criticized. Any day of the week I'd rather say we were over-prepared than to have to stand in front of a smoking hull of a building and have someone ask: 'In this day and age, how could you not have been prepared?' "
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