CALGARY -- Calgary police are preparing for the possibility that protesters will be killed in riots when the leaders of eight of the world's industrialized countries meet in Alberta this June.
Yesterday, at a day-long training course on "protest awareness," about 35 city police officers listened intently as provincial Crown prosecutor Emanuel Vomberg described that situation and how to react to it and others they may encounter during the G8 summit.
What if police find the body of someone beaten with a blunt object during a riot, don't have a description of the culprit, but spot someone in an alley with a baseball bat?
Officers can use the common-law power of investigative detention to pull that person off the street, although briefly, if they think he or she may be involved in a crime, Mr. Vomberg said.
"Anything that's happened anywhere else in the world could happen in Calgary," Sergeant Howard Burns, a G8 training co-ordinator for the Calgary Police Service, explained later.
"We're not saying that it would, but it's prudent for us to at least examine the possibility that these things would happen. That's why we look at things such as terrorism and that's why we look at things such as suspicious substances -- nuclear, biological, chemical."
Every sworn member of Calgary's 1,400-strong police force will have taken the course by the end of May. RCMP officers are being trained in how to handle protesters, and officers to be shipped in from across the country for the June 26-27 summit in Kananaskis will take a course, Inspector Al Redford of the G8 security team said.
The training manual isn't being made public for reasons of security, Insp. Redford said, but the table of contents suggests what officers could be up against.
Chemical agents. Unknown substances. Terrorism. Riots. The manual also outlines protester tactics, use of riot gear and the psychological impact on officers of working at such an event.
During the course, Mr. Vomberg pointed out what police must do to keep things calm, protect citizens and property and prevent crimes, but also refreshed officers on their powers if a riot breaks out.
He rattled off a list of possible charges, some from rarely used sections of the Criminal Code.
Mischief. Causing a disturbance by loitering. Unlawful assembly. Offensive volatile substance. Possession of incendiary material. Preventive arrest, which allows police to "catch and release" someone they think may breach the peace.
Some activists are predicting tens of thousands of protesters will converge on Calgary and the surrounding regions during the summit.
That's partly why police are preparing for worst-case scenarios such as last year's Summit of the Americas, Mr. Vomberg said.
During a break, Sergeant Eric Harrison said the course is a useful reminder of police powers and the rights of protesters, but he knows people are devising plans for the Kananaskis summit not seen at any previous meeting of world leaders.
"One of my concerns is the same as a lot of other officers -- the unknown," Sgt. Harrison said.
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