u.s. company rushing to ship security barriers to vancouver before marathon, after deadly festival attack
vancouver mayor ken sim said he has ordered a "full review" of the city's event-safety measures, including barriers, traffic control and safety protocols.
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a security company says it is speeding up the delivery of previously ordered vehicle-blocking barriers to vancouver in time for this weekend’s marathon, following last saturday’s deadly vehicle attack at a local street festival that left 11 people dead.
about two months ago, the vancouver police department placed an order for mobile barriers, designed to block cars and keep people safe at public events, from a company called meridian rapid defense group, the company’s ceo peter whitford said monday.
the 16 mobile barriers, along with two “rapid gates” which are designed to enable access of emergency vehicles, were originally scheduled to be delivered to vancouver the week of may 16, whitford said.
after saturday’s attack at the lapu lapu day festival in east vancouver, meridian contacted the vpd to ask if the city could use the equipment for any major events before the planned delivery.
the company is now trying to rush the delivery of the barriers to vancouver in time for the vancouver marathon scheduled for may 4, whitford said. more than 25,000 participants are expected to take part in the marathon.
barriers made by the meridian rapid defense group are shown in melbourne. – submitted photo: meridian rapid defense group
meridian rapid defense group
meridian is not charging extra for the rush order, whitford said.
“we seek to help people,” whitford said. “it’s about the work we do keeping people, communities and places safer that’s at the forefront, not necessarily about the commercial reality.”
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when meridian started in 2005, the company’s original focus was supplying security products for the u.s. military in combat zones, whitford said. ever since a vehicle-ramming attack by terrorists in the french city of nice killed more than 80 people in 2016, more of the company’s business has shifted to supplying governments and law enforcement agencies with products to make public events safer.
meridian rapid defense group ceo peter whitford. – submitted photo: meridian rapid defense group
meridian rapid defense group
municipal governments elsewhere in canada have purchased meridian’s mobile barriers in recent years, whitford said, and vancouver is the first canadian police department to do so.
“the fact that they have seen an issue and have responded to that, they (the vancouver police) should be commended for that. yes, everybody, in hindsight, can say: ‘why didn’t they do it back in 2004?” whitford said. “i don’t think you’re going to get any further by criticizing people for the timing that they make a decision. … i think that they should be applauded.”
each trailer-load of meridian barriers costs about usd $125,000, and includes eight mobile barriers and a rapid gate, whitford said, and the vpd has ordered two trailer-loads.
after the lapu lapu day attack, 30-year old vancouver man kai-ji adam lo was arrested by police at the scene after bystanders and witnesses detailed him. lo has since been charged with eight counts of murder, and police have said that further charges are still anticipated. lo remains in custody.
vancouver police block w. georgia st during the 2025 vancouver sun run in vancouver
nick procaylo
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vancouver police department interim chief steve rai said that lo had a history of interactions with police and health-care professionals related to his mental health, and police do not believe the attack was linked to terrorism.
rai was asked at a press conference sunday why the lapu lapu event did not include the use of parked trucks or police cars to block traffic, as some street festivals do. he replied that the police conducted a risk assessment for the event, based on several factors, “but according to the assessment, there was no need to lock it down like we would some other more high-risk events, based on the intelligence we gathered.”
at the same press conference sunday, vancouver mayor ken sim said he has ordered a “full review” of the city’s event-safety measures, including barriers, traffic control and safety protocols.
in an emailed statement monday, the city of vancouver said that the city has about 2,200 public events and about 1,000 protests annually. of those, nine events last year included heavy vehicle barriers, including large-scale events like the pride parade and celebration of light. when events on city property are free and open to the public, there is no cost to the organizers associated with heavy barriers.
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vancouver police department spokesperson sgt. steve addison said it was not clear if the meridian barriers will arrive before this weekend’s marathon, but if they do, the department will consider using them. but either way, he said, the department already has a comprehensive safety plan for the marathon, which was developed over months and includes the use of heavy vehicle barriers.
“we’ll see what we can do if they arrive on time. if not, we’ve got a full plan in place,” addison said.
the annual marathon is one of the vpd’s biggest deployments of the year, addison said, and will include 170 vpd personnel throughout the course.
“we have every reason to believe that this will be a safe event,” addison said.
read more of our coverage of the lapu lapu day tragedy:
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