Logo

Steve Watson
Prisonplanet.com
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Downtown Toronto To Be Transformed Into Locked Down Police State This Summer. Preparations are underway for a massive show of force in Toronto this Summer as the G20 summit comes to town. Unprecedented levels of security are being undertaken, with one of the largest movie studios in North America being transformed into a giant holding facility for unruly protesters.

Police say they are prepared for huge protests during the summit, scheduled to convene over the weekend of June 26/27.

Toronto law enforcement officials have announced they are “tapping” social network websites to monitor the potential activities of protesters as they gear up for the event.

“(Social media) allows people to communicate in a lot more different ways. It’s just another tool,” Const. Wendy Drummond told CP24 news. “The way we police our protests hasn’t changed.”

“The Olympics that you saw recently in Vancouver was actually the largest security event ever to take place here in Canada. The G20/G8 surpasses that completely,” Const. Ed Boltuc, a Toronto Police Services officer and liaison with the RCMP-led Integrated Security Unit, told the Toronto Star recently.

“There’s going to be a massive — absolutely massive — presence of police and security on the ground like you’ve never seen before.” Boltuc added.

The Globe and Mail has reported that up to10,000 uniformed officers, along with a 1,000 private security guards will be deployed, as well as Canadian military forces. The security costs are expected to cost the Canadian government (taxpayers) $179 million.

The plans include two security perimeters, walled in with huge 3 meter high fences, with Toronto police in charge of the outer zone and the RCMP in charge of the inner zone. Anyone entering the inner perimeter, where the Metro Convention Centre is located, will be processed through five levels of airport style security screening.


Various checkpoints throughout Toronto will be outfitted with “Magnetometers,” “walk-through metal detectors,” “X-Ray belt driven scanners” and “hand-held metal detectors.”

Residents and workers in the area will have to register with the authorities to get access to their homes and businesses during the meeting.

The Canadian Forces plans are described as “large-scale operational planning, land and air surveillance, underwater safety and security for the venues and some logistic and ceremonial functions. Support also includes drawing on the CF’s ongoing partnership in the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).”

Protesters will also be subject to designated free speech zones. If they breach these zones they will be forced to move or be arrested.

Police have announced that they will be using a massive movie studio as a temporary jail. The building is roughly five kilometres from the Convention Centre, outside the two security zones. The plan echoes tactics employed in the U.S. at recent DNC and RNC Conventions, where thousands of protesters were indiscriminately rounded up and kept for up to several hours in temporary prisons.

Sunday saw tactical officers take over part of the underground in the financial district of downtown Toronto in an unannounced simulated hostage event. Police worked in tandem with private security guards and we’re seen herding people through the building.

On Sunday April 18th I received a tip that there would be a terror/civilian evacuation drill in the downtown core which was to include simulated gun fire, actors resembling accident victims and the participation of Police Tactical Officers, the Emergency Task Force, and Toronto Fire and EMS. No one was notified that the drill would be taking place even though it was conducted in the financial district just a few blocks away from the location of the G20 summit coming to Toronto this June 26th/27th. Police with assault rifles could be seen ordering around “civilians” in an underground food court during one of the simulated scenarios. CTV and the Globe and Mail eventually arrived but we here at Press For Truth were the only ones who managed to get footage of the actual drill which was organized by TAPPS (Toronto Association of Police and Private Security) and was dubbed “Active Attackers”.



In a world where false flag attacks are becoming the modus operandi for manipulating the masses into accepting greater forms of tyranny, police and intelligence agencies are looking to merge the public and private sectors of security as a solution to the “threat” of terrorism . We interviewed Deputy Chief Kim Derry from TAPPS who was responsible for the drill and he stated to me over and over again that “times are changing and we need to merge the public and private sectors when dealing with these security issues”. He went on to say “there’s only so many police officers but there’s lots of private security. If private citizens see things they can report it to the private sector and the private sector has a communication network now with us and they can pass it on.”The merging of the public and private sectors of security is a very slippery slope and what the TAPPS organization fails to realise is that when there is an abuse of authority or an illegal action taking by these private forces no one is ever held accountable. Luckily independent press is on the rise and as long as we continue to expose these psyops for what they really are than citizens of the world just may realize that they’ve been had and will take a stand to join the infowar, expose the lies and seek the truth.

Source

Article by: Douglas Quan
Canwest News Service

They're big. They're bad-ass. And they could soon be barrelling down a street near you.

Numerous law-enforcement agencies across the country have recently acquired armoured vehicles for their tactical operations.

The Ottawa Police Service on Wednesday unveiled their BearCat — sort of like a Hummer on steroids. And RCMP in British Columbia announced this week that they had acquired two six-wheeled, all-terrain vehicles from the Canadian Forces.



Armoured vehicles are also in use in Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Victoria and several other municipalities.

Police forces say these bulletproof vehicles — none of which are equipped with any artillery — provide an extra layer of protection for officers when responding to dangerous situations, such as gun calls or high-risk search warrants.

Authorities say they also help protect the public in situations such as in hostage-takings.

"It's certainly a comfort to be able to deal with the calls we go to using the protection of a vehicle like that," said Ottawa Police Const. Jim Hutchins.

The Ottawa service purchased its Lenco BearCat for $341,147. The vehicle's oversized tires allow it to go off-road and its height offers improved visibility, police said.

The vehicle will be used by the department's tactical team, which responds to about 50 incidents each year and is tasked with protecting Canadian government buildings, embassies and consulates. The team also responds to incidents at the Ottawa International Airport.

Unlike Ottawa's armoured vehicle, which was manufactured for police use, the B.C. RCMP's armoured vehicles — known as TAV IIs and which can travel up to 120 km/h — were originally designed for military use and have since been retrofitted.

The vehicles, which were acquired free of charge, are necessary because of Metro Vancouver's escalating gang violence, said RCMP spokesman Sgt. Peter Thiessen.

"Gang members are well-armed. Many times we have to be in a position to respond to that and ensure our safety as police officers," he said. "We know what these individuals are capable of doing."

Thiessen said an armoured vehicle was deployed earlier this week when officers went to execute a search warrant at a home in Surrey, B.C. The occupants in the home came out peacefully, he said.

Is it possible that the mere sight of the vehicle could make criminals think twice about engaging police?

"Visually, it is an aggressive looking piece of equipment," Thiessen said. "It does look intimidating."

Robert Gordon, director of Simon Fraser University's school of criminology and a former police officer, says armoured vehicles might make sense in the United States where there's a wider availability of guns, but he wonders whether they're necessary in Canada.

"What kind of urban warfare do police services think they're going to be encountering?" he said. "I think there is an element of this equipment being purchased because it's new toys for boys."

Gordon said, in his opinion, the line between civil police service and military service in the country is blurring.

"We're talking about the streets you and I occupy. We're not talking about Kandahar," he said. "What will they do next? Drive them into the fronts of people's houses?"

Staff Sgt. Kirk McCallum of the Calgary Police Service, which acquired a Canadian-made Armet Balkan MK7 for $250,000 in 2008, said Gordon's remarks are short-sighted.

He said his agency's armoured vehicle is used on a weekly basis.

It is not uncommon for officers to drive the vehicle, which is equipped with lights and sirens, right onto someone's lawn, he said.

"We have to go into those dangerous situations. This let's us safely do that," he said.

McCallum cited the remarks of Alberta provincial court Judge Peter Ayotte, who led an inquiry into the 2004 shooting death of RCMP Cpl. James Galloway by a mentally-ill man west of Edmonton. In his recommendations, Ayotte wrote that having access to an armoured vehicle "almost surely" would have prevented Galloway's death.

"What value do you put on the cost of a life?" McCallum said.