THE STORY BEHIND THE POEM C.C.UH-OH
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The Crowd Control Unit had just come into
headquarters after being on standby for a demonstration. The Serbian community
in Vancouver was protesting the U.N. bombing in Kosovo. Now the Crowd Control
Unit, or CCU as it is known, consists of mostly extra-extra-large policemen.
Now, I stand 6’3" tall and weigh in at 270, and I would be about average
for the CCU. I’m told that there was 15 of them squeezed into the elevator,
and wearing full riot equipment, when two more arrived. They decided that
there was room for two more if they used the Japanese method of loading
subway trains. The two took a running jump, mashing everyone in even tighter.
The doors closed behind them and the elevator staggered upwards, stopping
after a 6-foot journey and becoming wedged there. The CCU members were
literally packed in tighter than sardines in a can and unable to move.
After about 10 minutes, the heat was building up in there and it was becoming
hard to breathe. One of them managed to wiggle his fingers free enough
to get out his cell phone and call for help. Someone managed to pry open
the outer door just enough to stick a baton in to hold it open, while the
CCU managed to do the same to the inner door. That was about all that could
be done at that point. Being a holiday weekend, getting an elevator repairperson
out would not even be an option. The heat had built up inside to the point
of someone passing out. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway; there was no
way he could fall down. Realizing that there was no way they could free
themselves, and there was nobody on the outside who could help, they had
to swallow their pride and call 9-1-1 and ask for assistance from the fire
department. The firemen came, and in a lobby crowded with off duty police
personnel, civilians and press, the CCU was rescued. The doors were pried
open and each member had to climb, or be helped down the six feet to the
lobby floor. So the poem was born.
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The reason that it was so hard for the
CCU to ask the fire guys to help, is that there is a natural rivalry between
policemen and firemen the world over. In our case, some of it stems way
back to 1967 and the Gastown Riots. The fire department had been asked
for their assistance in quelling the riot. It was believed that if the
fire hoses were turned on the crowd, it would calm the crowd. The fire
chief of the day responded with a now infamous quote "We fight fires, not
people" and refused to assist. A quote that lives forever in the memories
of the police department.
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