Taser death fallout $100M

The incident at Vancouver International Airport where a man died after being stunned with a Taser by police will have a significant financial impact on the 2010 Winter Olympics, says a Royal Roads University professor.

Michael Real, a professor at RRU’s school of communication and culture, estimates the Oct. 14 incident — where Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski died after being hit at least twice with a Taser by RCMP officers — could cost $100 million in economic returns linked to the Olympic Games.

The $2-billion investment in hosting the Olympics is built around creating a positive impression on a global scale that will foster tourism and business, Real noted.

“This incident will be so memorable around the world in people’s minds that I’d guess we’ll lose $100 million to $120 million,” Real said.

Real, who has been monitoring media coverage worldwide in the wake of the incident, said the only international coverage so far that approaches the Taser incident would be when Vancouver was named to host the Olympics.

“Stories like these have legs, and travel around the world,” he said.

The majority of print media in papers he’s checked in the U.S., England, New Zealand and numerous other cities and countries have taken a conservative, measured approach in describing what happened.

Al Jazeera’s coverage, for example, includes quotes from the RCMP, the NDP and the Polish ambassador to Canada, with no editorializing. “They don’t need to, it’s such a sad story,” Real said.

The recent release of a 10-minute video a couple of weeks after the incident has extraordinary impact because it puts what happened into much sharper focus.

“It’s the classic picture is worth a thousand words,” he said, pointing out the video has been posted on You Tube at least 23 times and viewed by a half a million people, not including worldwide media coverage.

The fallout has been immediate, Real said, citing a story about two girls from Chile who cancelled a trip to Vancouver because they didn’t speak English and were afraid they would be killed.

“Obviously, that’s a very misinformed reaction, but it’s understandable,” Real said. “With 24-hour cable news cycles and video on the web things explode now.”

He believes the incident wouldn’t have been nearly as devastating if it had occurred in Kelowna, for example, but Vancouver International Airport is synonymous with the Olympics.

As well, the RCMP are recognized around the world as Canada’s law agency, he added.

“I respect Vanoc and what they’re trying to do and it’s not their fault,” Real said. “But they’re paying attention to world opinion, and they’re going to pay the price. I wonder what they would pay for a positive story that got that kind of coverage.”

Real, who lived in San Diego during the buildup to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, recalled the effect caused by the mass murder of 21 people in a McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro before the Games.

The Soviet Union cited that incident, which occurred in a town 150 miles away from Los Angeles, as one of the reasons for its decision to boycott the Games.

Real said although that decision was inevitable given the political climate of the day, Russia said the U.S. can’t protect its own citizens, let alone athletes from other countries.

Indeed, Real said a loss of $100 million could turn out to be conservative, depending on how closely the world follows the numerous investigations into the Dziekanski incident at Vancouver airport as they unfold over the course of a year.

The price tag could grow if more incidents, such as the financial scandals that plagued the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, surface.

He used the Atlanta Summer Games in 1996 as another example, pointing out that city was roundly criticized for traffic problems and being poorly organized.

“It was the most criticized Olympic Games in decades,” he said. “Atlanta didn’t gain much on the world stage.”

Vancouver is already getting unflattering press, Real said, citing an in-depth Washington Post story on Vancouver’s issues with the homeless. “Two black eyes doesn’t make for a good photo,” Real said.

If this sort of coverage continues, the 2010 Olympics could wind up with a neutral financial outcome, Real said. “That’s a very poor outcome for a $2 billion investment.”

Vanoc has already pegged the cost of security for the 2010 Games at $200 million. “Half of the security budget has been thrown out the window,” Real said.

Representatives from Vanoc’s media relations department could not be reached before the News Gazette’s deadline.