Vancouver Police searching for 3 Middle Eastern men videotaping Pacific Centre Mall
 

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/01/v...c-centre-mall/

Some of us including me go to PC frequently. Any wild guesses of their motives?

SkinnyPupp Edit: Adding official press release so people don't have to visit that crap site.

They filming a music video...

the article doesn't say why they're searching for them.

Inb4

"ITS JUST A PRANK BRO."

DJ Khaled!

lol no one wants to say it

The official media release

Police Investigating Suspicious Incident at Pacific Centre Mall | Vancouver Police Department

what the hell?

sounds like police just jumped on to the assumption that they're planning on terrorism or setting up a bomb.

how many middle eastern people do we have in Canada? and how many people have smart phones?

if they were 3 teenage girls taking pictures at shopping mall, nobody would've give 2 shits about it.

Not normal for anyone to take pictures of all the exits and entrances..

absolutely, it is very weird what they were doing... but if they are terrorists, they are some of the worst terrorists around.

come on, they could have at least tried to be incognito about it!!!

i'm sure it was nothing, but if it is something, these guys are even bigger idiots than normal terrorists!

Derp Timpo... If you think the police are giving out all the information they have you're sadly mistaken. I'm sure they have very good reasons/further information that you don't need to know about.

that certainly is suspicious to take photos of entrances and exits... but with google street view available, and inconspicuous cameras for sale (even in best buy), these guys clearly aren't the brightest, if they are up to no good

I'm pretty torn since seeing this PSA looking for these three guys. If this is all the police are going on and has put out a request like this:

On the one hand, trying to prevent a crime before it happens is important, and it does seems like diligence by the police to bring people in for questioning for suspicious activity.

But on the other hand, imagine being these three guys in the video, and being innocent. You now have all of Vancouver looking at you as suspected violent terrorists even though you might have no ill intention or even having committed crime. This could potentially cause a lot of problems for their personal lives.

I guess the question I'm asking myself is, where do we draw the line and at what point do we let fear dominate our lives? If someone was looking up blueprints to city hall, does that give the government the authority to start electronically surveying them? I shouldn't think so. Taking photos and videos of a mall is public domain.... Imagine waking up and being wanted the by the police when you and your buddies were just walking around the mall taking photos.

The honest answer is I don't know, but it's definitely something we should start talking about

Better safe than fucking sorry.

Why the fail in the first post. Yes it's a judgement call and yes I hope it's something totally innocent. But Like above me, better safe than fuckin sorry. Trust your gut

The story/post probably broke before there was an official/public/media release.

If you look at one of the VCB Twitter accounts's, there's a tweet saying it was "tip" they got (https://twitter.com/farhanmohamed/st...883334422528); but there's a pic that may have been what they ran the story based on (https://twitter.com/j_mcelroy/status...405350531072); note the intended audience/nature of the information.

Imagine what would happen to GVR RE if a terrorist attack takes place in PC? That's where all the fuerdai goes to spend their money!

1. VCB article

2. VCB chose to include their ethnic background in the title

edit*

read that wrong.

Would you rather have reactive police work, or proactive police work? Srs question; not trying to be flippant

Capturing exits/entrances is quite the deviant, and dare I say, suspicious behaviour... it isn't unreasonable to infer that these guys are up to no good. The police are being diligent in carrying out their mandate, which is to serve and protect the public.

Kinda looking at this from a utilitarian perspective... I'm okay with stigmatizing a few guys to ensure the safety of the general public. They could be innocent, for all we know; but as jonwon so candidly put it... better safe than sorry.

But, man, you're right; this is definitely something to be discussed

There's always gonna be a debate between safety and fear getting the best of everyone and a lot of ppl will argue about making early assumptions or racial profiling but if worse case scenario it was an attack, then what do you tell the people who lost loved ones? Or how would you feel if someone you love was a victim? "Im sorry but we werent cautious enough because we didnt want to look like we were racist or a poor judge of character"

I definitely understand that there are borders that shouldnt be crossed but with the current situation happening around the world i think its justifiable that vancouver is being cautious and vigilant.

site rule to fail any buzz article linked :)

Sorry my bad. I was texted just the picture earlier tonight so I never clicked the link in this thread. Had no idea VCB was even mentioned in here. Failed accordingly

I'm thinking the guys were casing that particular area of the mall for a possible robbery.

or...



:badpokerface: