Winnipeg Sun | 17Jun2011 | Orest Slepokura
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2011/06/16/letters-june-17

Mob psychology

In 1990, after the Edmonton Oilers won the Stanley Cup, fans rioted on Jasper Avenue.

Firemen doused the mobs with water from high-pressure hoses to contain them. TV coverage had shown one fan knocked down by the force of the water’s trajectory. He got back up, sopping wet, and was heard to defiantly exclaim: “Oilers all the way!”

There’s a brutish dynamic in mob psychology that makes measured force necessary to quell any riot. The difficulty, of course, is in arriving at just the right degree of force and deciding on its timely application.

Public opinion should side with the police. Give them the benefit of the doubt.

Orest Slepokura

Absolutely.