Urban security planning and "crowdsourcing"

Baltimore Sun photo of the aftermath of St. Patrick's Day in Canton Square in Baltimore.

Vancouver is going to announce a plan today to ward off post-hockey rioting. See "Vancouver to reveal plan to stickhandle Stanley Cup playoff chaos" from the Toronto Globe and Mail. Similarly, Baltimore police have been criticized for letting St. Patrick's Day overconsumption of alcohol getting so out of hand that Canton Square was taken over and trashed by drunks. See "Police concede failures in curtailing Canton drinking" from the Baltimore Sun.

From the TGM:

The riot review – chaired by John Furlong and Douglas Keefe – found large crowds and the free flow of alcohol were the primary factors in the city’s second hockey riot since 1994. Though no one at the city would release details, multiple sources confirmed Monday that the plan will address those two issues.

The city is expected to focus on smaller-scale celebrations – as opposed to the 150,000-person street party that erupted into a riot after the Canucks lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final to the Boston Bruins. Exactly what form those smaller-scale celebrations take remains to be seen.