I read an article over at PoliceOne.com where a mayor of a town in South Carolina made it policy that her officers not be allowed to pursue suspects – either by vehicle or on foot.
Vehicle pursuits are a heated topic with many pros and cons to both sides of the argument on whether or not to engage in one, so I’m going to leave that topic alone for now.
But to tell your officers they are not allowed to run after a person who is attempting to evade arrest?
I was so taken aback by the video of an interview with the mayor about her decision that I simply could not help commenting (as could over three dozen other people as seen in the comments section of the article). I’ll let you come to your own conclusions about the mayor’s professionalism.
In a nut shell, the mayor says insurance rates go up if an officer gets hurt running after a suspect. Funny, that. Policing is an inherently dangerous profession.
After consulting with a prosecutor, the foot-chase ban was lifted when the prosecutor believed such a policy would prevent officers from upholding the law.
Thank goodness for common sense.
There has been a flurry of activity on the political front in the last few days with the HST, Olympic funding, medical funding cuts and additional budget cuts, including cuts the RCMP are facing.
The result is a number of new recruits will NOT be going through Depot.
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I work the front lines. I see what happens when there are a lack of resources.
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I have many RCMP friends. They are good people. Great people. They give everything they have to upholding the oath all of us wearing a law enforcement badge have sworn to. They are people just like you and me – they believe in justice, honour, integrity, team.
The RCMP cannot afford to have their budget slashed. The men and women of the Red Serge deserve better. They need reinforcements. Additional officers. Additional resources.
One of the top stories on the news during the past week has been that of accused murderer Ryan Jenkins and his slain ex-wife. The story reached international status when Jenkins was thought to have crossed the border into Canada last week.
Then, just an hour ago, the Surrey RCMP held a news conference saying Jenkins had been found dead in a hotel in the Hope, BC area in what appeared to be a suicide.
I’m relieved the hunt is over. Last night my kids asked if they could sleep in the backyard in a tent and I said no. We live not too far from where Jenkins crossed the border, and I did not want my children outside in the middle of the night - even with a police dog and an off-duty officer sleeping beside them.
Now that the case is ‘over’, I’m not sure whether to be glad Jenkins is dead (at least now there won’t be years of extradition hearings) or to feel sorry for him. I definitely feel for the loved ones of the woman he is alleged to have murdered, Jasmine Fiore, as they are now going through the hell of burying a woman gone before her time.
I think, for the most part, I’m glad he’s dead.
Case closed.
No political wrangling. No cross-border deliberations on how to best treat a Canadian accused in the heinous death of an American. No footage of a grieving family trying to bring their loved ones killer to justice.
PSD Knight - 2008 Can Am Games
Today marks the Opening Ceremonies for the 2009 World Police Fire Games, which will run from July 31st to August 9th.
I went down to the new Vancouver Convention Center a couple of nights ago to register for my event and was greeted by a slew of volunteers, police officers and fire fighters from all over the world. At last count, over 10,000 athletes have signed up to compete in events covering everything from the Grouse Grind Mountain Race and fishing to soccer and hockey.
There’s also the Police Service Dog competition with dog teams representing agencies from across Canada and the United States. The event covers obedience, agility, protection and a box search.
As with most events, the Police Service Dog competition is open to the public free of charge and promises to be an exciting event to watch. It is scheduled for:
- Thursday, August 6th
- Queens Park Stadium at 1st Street and 3rd Avenue, New Westminster (see map)
- start time 0800
- events run through the day
- approx end time 1800 hrs with medal presentations by VPD Deputy Chief Constable Steve Sweeney
PSD Hondo and I are working that day so we will not be competing but I do hope to make it to the venue as an observer to give support to my fellow handlers as they show everyone how impressive the dogs are.
I hope to see you there!
About the photo- the police dog is PSD Knight (Hondo’s brother) competing at the 2008 Can Am Police and Fire Games that took place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Many thanks to the quarry, Dave Ellery, as he has been invaluable in the training of our police dogs, and thanks also to Sgt. Mike Anfield (Ret.) (Maximum Exposure Photography) who was the photographer for the event.
There are those among us who would commit heinous acts against others.
On April 8, 2009, eight year old Tori Stafford went missing after she left her school with a then unidentified woman. By the beginning of May, a woman and a man had been arrested and charged with the kidnapping and murder of the little girl even though Tori’s body had not been located.
Then, earlier this week, police in located the remains of a child on a rural property near Mount Forest, Ontario. After comparing the remains to dental charts, investigators confirmed the body located was that of Tori Stafford, bringing some type of closure to her family. I say ‘closure’, but all the identification really does is bring Tori’s family to the next stage of grief.
Now there are whispers of a plea bargain for the woman accused in the case, and even though this is a typical avenue for lawyers to travel down on the route to bringing a case to court, any reduced charge or sentence or will likely spark public outrage. The woman’s lawyer says such talk is premature given the nature of the case, but a plea bargain is not out of the question. Such talk brings back memories of the reduced sentence Karla Homolka received in turn for testifying against her estranged husband Paul Bernardo, who was convicted in 1995 for the kidnapping and murder of high school students Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
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On June 30, the bodies of three sisters and another female relative were found submerged in a car in the Kingston Mill Locks in Kingston, Ontario.
19 year old Zainab Shafia was allegedly behind the wheel of the family’s Nissan Sentra with her sisters, 17 year old Sahar and 13 year old Geeti, and ‘aunt’, 50 year old Rona Mohammad as passengers. How the car ended up in the water was a mystery, as it would have had to have crossed a section of grass and gone through a locked gate – but the grass had no tire tracks and the gate was secure.
Then, on July 22, the parents and 20 year old brother of the three girls were arrested while on their way to the airport. Each has been charged with four counts of first degree murder in connection with the deaths. Following is a time line of the circumstances surrounding the investigation.
Was the incident an honour killing?
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Forest fired have raged across BC in the last two weeks. At one point up to 10,000 people had been evacuated from their homes in the interior, and you only have to follow the daily news to witness the incredible ability of Mother Nature to render our modern day lives to cinders and ash.
At the time of this writing, there are seven fires listed on the Wildfire Manengement Branch’s website as critical due to their visibility or threat to public safety.
But it’s not the actual fires I want to comment on, it’s the despicable acts committed by a few criminals as they took advantage of the vacant homes by breaking into and stealing the belongings of evacuees.
It never ceases to amaze me at how poorly some of our society treats the rest of us. Police agencies for the targeted areas have promised to investigate the crimes to the fullest, and several arrests have already been made.
On a side note, did you know that under the Criminal Code of Canada, a charge of a residential break and enter can be punishable with a maximum sentence of life in prison?
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As you can see from the events of the past week, criminal investigations are only one brick in the road to justice.
The legal system is one of checks and balances. Many would argue the rights of victims are continually violated in favour of not violating those of the accused, and there are times when I feel the same. I’ve seen too often an accused go free based on a technical error and not on a lack of facts pointing to the person’s irrefutable guilt. It’s incredibly frustrating.
Perhaps all the talk of child murders, plea bargains, honour killings and heartless thieves has put me into a bit of a funk, but there HAS to be justice served in these cases. All of these families and victims deserve closure. They did not ask for the crimes committed against them. They did not beg to have their lives ended and their belongings stolen.
If I know policing at all, I know all the investigators in the above cases will do their utmost best to bring the cases to a successful conclusion and that the right people will be brought to justice.
Warm skies, the ocean wind and sunsets rivalled only by those on other shores define the Vancouver area at this time of year. Our city is starting to fill with tourists, and the cruise ship season is underway. This is when even the locals take time to explore our landmarks such as Gastown, Granville Island and the Grouse Grind (which actually located in North Vancouver).
That said, I’ve got an action packed weekend ahead of me out in the sun, so I’ll only touch on a few of the top news stories:
- Today, a man successfully escaped from the Port Coquitlam psychiatric hospital for the second time. 26 year old Matthew David Mikolajczyk, who has a history of violent assaults and poses a danger both to himself and to the public, now has a Canada wide warrant out for his arrest. In September 2008 after escaping for the first time, Mikolajczyk was spotted by residents on Saturna Island, one of the Gulf Islands located between the mainland of BC and Vancouver Island. He was eventually apprehended with the assistance of the RCMP helicopter and boat, the Victoria Police Department K9 section, and the local fire chief. I’m friends with the dog handler who assisted with the apprehension, and her story of the search for the escapee was not like many I’ve heard. Hearing her describe how she and her dog ended up over the edge of a very steep embankment struggling with the suspect as he fought to pull them all down the cliff was enough for me to want to stay on flat land. I just hope this time Mikolajczyk is apprehended without incident and brought back to a more secure facility where he was can get the treatment he needs.
- RCMP in Surrey Tasered a 15 year old on Thursday after the teen-aged male was found highly intoxicated and waving around a knife. The RCMP stated an officer Tasered the teen in “lieu of using lethal force”. That this is even news is beyond me. The Taser is considered a ‘less than lethal’ tool for use in these types of situations. My opinion (this is my opinion and not the opinion of my employer) is this – if extensive studies show the Taser is not safe to use, then take it away from the police. If it is deemed safe, then we should applaud when the Taser is used appropriately and a life is saved.
Current Mysteries:
- The Canadian Mint - a half-ton of gold, valued at $15.3 million dollars, has gone missing from the Canadian Mint headquarters in Ottawa. Hmm, this sounds like the script to a movie…
- from Canada.com - A failed 19th-century Arctic expedition that was famously “frozen in time” has yielded a stunningly poignant relic: a ship’s clock that somehow survived the disaster and has kept on ticking. A 165-year-old marine chronometer that was supposed to have been lost in Canada’s Far North with the ill-fated Franklin Expedition has inexplicably surfaced in Britain — a “complete mystery” that the country’s top horologist is trying to unravel ahead of a weekend exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, where the timepiece will be displayed publicly for the first time.
Weird News:
In a report from CNews, these two crooks are the definition of what happens with poor planning:
- KIRKWOOD, New York – State police say two men robbed a gas station and might have gotten away if they had also fueled up. New York state police officers said they caught 29-year-old Lonnie Meckwood and 51-year-old Phillip Weeks after their getaway car ran out of gas while the were trying to escape late Monday night. They’re accused of using a knife to rob a clerk at the Quickway Convenience Store in Kirkwood, near the New York-Pennsylvania border about 80 miles (130 kilometres) south of Syracuse. The clerk wasn’t hurt. Police found the pair about a mile (2 kilometres) away. Their car was on the side of the road.
I’ve been involved in a paint war the last few days and have discovered that I am in the ‘needs improvement’ group for actual colour selection. It took me three days and a couple of different gallons of paint to get it right, but now our laundry room and computer nook are done.
This is also the first time I’ve had the computer out from under plastic sheeting for more than a few minutes- so if you’ve wondered where I’ve been, I’ve been painting and cursing myself for not hiring a colour designer.
While I was painting I had the radio on, and when it was time, the local news channel kept me company. So even though this week’s TWIP is brief, it’s a great story.
Bob Bennet with RCMP and PSD Nick
84 year old Bob Bennett from Benson Lake, northern Vancouver Island, fell into a dry well sometime on Saturday, June 20th. For four days, Bennett tried to climb out of the 2.4 meter/8 ft deep well without success, and was reported missing after he failed to show up to meet a friend.
Police started their search early on Wednesday, June 24th. RCMP Dog Handler Cpl. Terry Higginson and Police Dog Nick helped with the search, and by the afternoon, Police Dog Nick indicated on a the dry well, alerting his handler to Bennett’s location at the bottom of the well.
Bennett, who was reported to be in relatively good spirits, was dehydrated but otherwise not badly injured.
“I really found that as long as I infused myself with water at a fairly regular basis that, I didn’t find it particularly distressful,” Bennett told CBC News (for the full story) .”You know, I was searching my memory for the various tales that I’d read with regard to starvation and the rest of it, and I thought, well, I hope we don’t have to go 10 days, but if we have to, we have to,” he said.
At 84 years old, Bob Bennett could teach the rest of us what it means to be a survivor.
In a week filled with inquests, pleas for information on missing persons and updates on homicide investigations, the one thing I’m not going to do is comment on the Braidwood Inquiry and the new turn it took today. I’ll leave this one to the ones who can comment on it.
Keeping with the search for truth, the following families are asking for anyone with information on the fate of their loved ones to come forward, even if all that is done is a call placed to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477(TIPS). Courtesy of the VPD Public Affairs Media Section:
- On the second anniversary of the disappearance of Ronald Carlow, his sister Loretta made another heartfelt plea for any information in the case. Ronald William Carlow left his residence in the 1200 block of Homer Street on June 20th, 2007, and was wearing a white t-shirt, brown and green camouflage shorts and brown flip-flops. He was 38 years old, 5’11”, about 230 lbs. with a muscular build, light brown hair and green eyes. He had a tattoo of a ring of hockey sticks around his left bicep. Investigators discovered that Ron met with people involved in the drug trade shortly after he left his Yaletown apartment on June 20th, 2007 at 5:51 p.m. He has not been seen since and both the family and investigators believe that Ronald has been the victim of a probable murder.
- Evan Garber, a 59 year old Vancouver resident, was dining at a restaurant at 3163 Main Street at 1:30 in the morning on April 28, 2006. A man walked into the restaurant with a handgun and confronted a staff member, then began to take cash from the register. When the robber tried to leave, Mr. Garber intervened and they began to struggle. Another restaurant patron also got involved and shots were fired. Evan Garber was shot and died at the scene. The second patron was seriously injured and taken to hospital. A car was seen leaving the area at the time and may be related to the incident. Investigators are looking for an older, 1989-1992 dark blue, four-door sedan, possibly a Chevrolet or Oldsmobile. Witnesses say the robber was white, mid to late 20s, 6’ tall, 170 to 180 lbs. and he was wearing a light-coloured baseball cap, a loose shirt, possibly a track jacket, a t-shirt and long pants. “This was not the first time Evan Garber had intervened in a crime in progress,” says Homicide Detective Ron Symes. “When a man with a bag over his head tried to rob a store in which he was a customer, Mr. Garber pulled the bag off, exposing the robber’s face to the store’s surveillance camera. Officers were able to identify the suspect and he was subsequently charged with two counts of robbery.”
- On September 11th, 2008, Willene Wah Ying Chong lay sleeping in her bed at 2781 E.55th Avenue when an arsonist set fire to her home. The 77 year old woman became Vancouver’s 15th homicide victim of 2008, dying in the house she had lived in for over 36 years. A $10,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for this crime. “My mother was a strong, loving, self-assured and loyal woman,” says Jerry Chong. “We were shaped by her will and determination to better ourselves. The pain never leaves us and we are haunted by the nightmares of that day,” says Chong. “This is especially true for my youngest brother who was present. He not only suffered physical injuries, but memories he cannot erase. He has not returned to work since that time. Our family needs closure and for that to happen we need to bring her killer to justice.”
If you really read the above pleas, you cannot help but feel the pain of those left behind. To not know what has happened to your loved one must be horrible, and these families are in my thoughts.
Stay safe out there everyone,
Sandra
The last full moon was Sunday, June 7th. The days leading up to and away from a full moon are usually busy. People do weird things and crimes get a little more violent. This week was no exception.
- Jun 9th – 18 year old Yeon Chul Peter Lee was arrested and charged with theft over $5000, aggravated assault and unlawful confinement after he allegedly attacked a man. The male victim is recovering from several slash wounds after he arranged to meet and show Lee his car-for-sale. At some point during the meeting, Lee allegedly struck the victim with a blunt object, choked him and then slashed his face, neck and chest. In a bizarre twist, Lee then drove the victim (in the victim’s car no less) to the hospital, after which Lee made off with the car. Lee was arrested when he returned home a few hours later.
- June 10th – 30 year old Daniel Kesselring was the 39th person to be flown back to his home province courtesy of our Con Air program. He was arrested in Vancouver after fleeing numerous weapons charges from Waterloo, Ontario.
- June 11th – Vancouver recorded its 14th homicide of 2009 after 28 year old Jefferey Qi Feng Bian was fatally stabbed in a Yaletown apartment. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at (604)717-2500, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
- June 11th – two men, age 19 and 22, are in custody after a violent robbery at the 7-11 convenience store located at 6904 Victoria Dr. During the robbery the suspects brandished pepper spray and knife (the clerk was not hurt), but were taken into custody a short time later.
As for the full-moon theory? Some say it’s complete hogwash, that the theory has not stood up to the test of numerous studies saying there is no correlation between the lunar phase and the rates of homicide/traffic accidents/violent altercations/increased emergency room admissions etc, etc.
I beg to differ. Things are always a little wacko when the moon is full.
When the only ones out on the streets are cops and robbers (and those pesky newspaper delivery people…), you cannot help but notice the subtle tension underneath it all when the moon turns her round face towards the earth and shines down on us all.
This post is past due, but after having spent the last several days in an area with no access to modern technology (internet connection, cell phones, television, radio – heck, I couldn’t even get a newspaper, and it was glorious), I’m a little behind on what has been going on in the GVRD. Being in the backwoods of Beautiful British Columbia has that effect on people…
So instead of re-capping the week’s police related news, I’m going to comment on the differences between policing in a major urban center and policing in a rural environment.
My experiences as a police officer for the VPD are going to be very similar to those of officers working for the larger departments across this country. Every day, I am surrounded by dozens and sometimes hundreds of Vancouver police officers, all of us doing what we do best.
We rest assured knowing our comrades are there beside us, and that help is only a few moments away should we need it. We are highly trained, but there are experts readily available if we have a question. We have the experience to back up tactical decisions, but we have the resources of a full time ERT/SWAT section to turn to when a situation dictates a higher response. We are known for always searching out the facts, but we have the best investigators leading our important files.
Then there are police officers who work in very small towns or with very small detachments. Often, these members are the only officer working on a shift. They are the first responder, the tactical decision maker, and the investigator all at the same time.
Last year, I listened to a presentation given by one such officer. This police officer spoke of getting transferred to a one-member detachment in Canada’s far North. The ground was frozen under three feet of permanent snow, transportation was via snow mobile, and all supplies were flown in. It was described as an experience like no other.
The officer reflected back on early meetings with many of the town’s five hundred citizens, most of which were positive and neighborly in the way those of us from the big cities would like to think they would be; the giving of welcoming gifts, a promise of help with the shoveling of snow, an invitation for dinner and coffee.
Then there was one introduction when the officer realized just how lonely a one-member detachment can be.
In a bout of drunkenness, a few of the locals arrived at the officers home in the middle of the night. There was much yelling and door hammering and calling to come out and ‘fight like a man’. The inebriated group continued their barrage of insults and intimidation, eventually losing interest when they thought the officer was not home.
But the officer had been home – armed with a shotgun, barricaded in a room, and unable to radio for help.
You might ask yourself, “Why didn’t the officer just tell them to bug off?”, or “Why didn’t the officer just ignore them?”
I’ll tell you why – the officer was a woman.
Kinda changes the dynamics a bit, doesn’t it?
The officer kept her wits about her, and did what she had to do. She realized there would be no reasoning with a bunch of drunk men, so she sat as quiet as a church mouse and waited for them to leave, which they eventually did.
Smart girl.
This officer’s story put it all in perspective. I work in a big city. I have the luxury of knowing I am never really alone when I’m at work. Any one of my fellow officers would drop whatever it was they were doing if I needed help and called for it. If I had a group of drunks on my front porch trying to goad me into coming out to ‘fight like a man’, my one phone call would have the calvary coming at full charge. Not because the responding officers know me personally, or have worked with me, or are friends of mine, but because we all wear the same uniform.
It also makes me wish I had been there to help out with the other officer’s midnight welcome wagon.
