Hastings NorthCommunity Policing Bulletin

Brought to you by your Hastings North Community Policing Centre Spring 2005

Local Pooches Work Like Dogs Tracking Down Community Crime

MARKING HER TERRITORY

Veteran pooch patroller, Molly, keeps an eye out forabandoned vehicles, safety hazards and suspiciousactivities on her daily walks.

Photo: Jessica Wei

The Pooch Patrol is a group oflocal canines and their owners whovolunteer at the Hastings NorthCommunity Policing Centre(HNCPC) by keeping an eye out forcrime during their daily walks. Thisgroup of dedicated humans andcanine residents help make ourcommunity safe by observing andreporting any suspicious activitiesthey might encounter while on theirregular dog-walking route.

Pooch patrollers report abandonedcars, vandalism, graffiti, and anysuspicious activity around our parksand schools to the CommunityPolicing Centre (CPC). They are onthe lookout for open drug dealingand are trained to spot the signs of apotential grow-op.

The Pooch Patrol program is agreat way for busy dog owners tovolunteer with the CPC, as allPooch Patrol duties can be per-formed as part of a regular dog-walking routine. It also gives moresociable dog owners a chance tomeet other local dog people and

their canine companions as part of agroup of interesting, fun volunteers.Pooch patrols also allow our neigh-bourhood pooches a chance to per-form a great community service.

Before hitting the streets, Poochpatrollers receive a brief but compre-hensive training session teachingthem how to be safe on the streets,what types of activities they should beon the look out for, and how to reportany of these activities to the CPC.

These intrepid volunteers and theirfaithful pooches patrol our commu-nity 365 days a year, holidaysincluded. They hit the streets from asearly as 4:00 am until late at night.Nor are they thwarted by torrentialdownpours, snowfalls, wind storms,hail or thunderstorms, by freezingweather or hot searing days when thepavement is toasty under their paws .These loyal pooches persevere,proud to do their job ensuring thatour neighbourhood is safe.

We are a fun group who enjoytheir patrolling with our poochesand helping our community. If youand your dog are interested in join-ing the Pooch Patrol, call the HNCPat 604-717-3584.

BY KATY GAMMI

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Neighbourhood Police Officer urges you to call 9-1-1

It is of great importance that you call911 when you witness any in-progresssituation that deserves police attention.Whether drug dealers or users are hang-ing around waiting to make a deal, or sus-picious people have just tried to openyour neighbour’s car door, I urge you to

call the police. If you are not at home, usea cell phone or a nearby pay phone. Effi-cient policing is a combination of receiv-ing information in a timely mannerfollowed by a quick police response. Thepolice cannot help if no one calls.

Some of you have complained thatyou have called in suspicious activitiesbut police did not arrive in a timely fash-

ion or not at all. This does happen fromtime to time and I would like to explainwhy. Police calls are assigned on a prior-ity system. High priority calls are inci-dents such as in-progress residential orcommercial Break and Enters (B&E),domestic disputes, bank robberies, or anyother in-progress crime. Situations thathave the potential to become more seri-

BY MIKE LINDE

WORD ON THE BEAT

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Volunteer Focus: Pauline Michaud

Manitoba native Pauline Michaudspends much of her free time helping outher new community of Hastings-Sunrise.The recent graduate of Langara College’stwo year Criminal Justice Program vol-unteers at least 12 hours every week atHastings North Community PolicingCentre (HNCPC). She has been integralto the successful growth of HNCPC overthe past 2 years.

Pauline previously worked asa police officer at the resort com-munity of Victoria Beach, northof Winnipeg, before coming tostudy at Langara. She currentlyworks full time as a ResourceProtection Investigator at a localretail outlet, but eventually hopesto find work as a police officer inthe lower mainland.

She began to volunteer at ourCPC as part of a requirement forher Criminal Justice Programstudies, but stayed on because ofthe people she connected with andbecause she could see that herhelp was very valued. “There’s alot to do and learn at the CPC. Ilive in the neighbourhood and Ilike to be involved with my com-munity,” Pauline says.

Pauline started by workingone day per week in the office.While she still does a shift in theoffice, where one of her jobs isvolunteer orientation, over the

past two years she has added to her volun-teer commitment. Mondays there is BikePatrol, Thursdays it is Foot Patrol duty,and Speed Watch takes up every secondSaturday. She represents HNCPC on theCity-Wide Planning Committee, a groupconsisting of representatives from otherCPCs who plan public awareness eventsof Community Policing in Vancouver.

The Business Safety Program, one ofthe HNCPC and Hastings Sunrise Busi-ness Improvement Association (BIA)joint projects that was developed over thepast year has also been successful withthe help of Pauline. The program can belikened to a Block Watch for businesses.Pauline and other HNCPC and BIAmembers have visited most businesses inour BIA’s area to distribute programinformation. They have also hosted infor-mational meetings for businesses to pro-mote the program.

HNCPC Coordinator Clair Mac-Gougan praises Pauline’s dedication toHNCPC. “She gives a lot of time anddoes a lot of diverse work for the CPC.She doesn’t hesitate to take leadershipand we know that whatever job she takeson will get done and will get done well.”

BY BRENDA PENTON

VOLUNTEER EXTRAORDINAIREIn addition to her many patrol duties,Pauline Michaud represents the CPCon the City-Wide Planning Committee.

Photo: Brenda Penton

Up and ComingANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

❊ 5th Annual Wonder ofWords Literacy EventThe community is invited to the 5th Annual Wonder ofWords at Hastings School onThursday, April 21 from 5:30 pmto 8:30 pm. This engaging familyliteracy event features children’sauthors, storytellers and com-munity organizations joiningtogether for an evening of food,fun and entertainment. Andthere’s free pizza for the first300 guests, compliments of Literacy BC. Come and celebrateour wonderful 5th year!

❊ Street Hockey Tournamentand Safety FairThis popular annual event will beheld July 9th at Sunrise Square(behind London Drugs). The event isfree of charge and is open to all kidsfrom kindergarten to grade 7. Spaceis limited, so register early at theHastings North BIA or CPC office atHastings and Nanaimo. LondonDrugs will be hosting a OperationFamily Identification booth(Childfind).

❊ Keep Vancouver SpectacularThe Hastings North CommunityPolicing Centre will be hostingthe kick-off party for this year’spopular annual neighbourhoodclean-up competition. Find outmore online at: www.city.van-couver.bc.ca/engsvcs/solidwaste/kvs/index.htm or call theHNCPC for details.

❊ HNCPC Community CleanupsJoin us for a local litter clean-up onApril 9, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pmor come by to participate in a graf-fiti paintout April 23, from 10:00 amto 1:00 pm. Both events start at ourHastings street office and includefree pizza. PAULINE IN ACTION

Pauline keeps an eye on local speeders aspart of the CPC’s Speed Watch program.

Photo: Jessica Wei

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LOOKING FOR TROUBLEYou don’t have to be a six-footer to jointhe pooch patrol – Minna and Bud provethat it takes all kinds to look out for thecommunity

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PUTTING PAW TO PAVEMENTMolly and Jeannie sniff out potential com-munity troublespots on a typical poochpatrol.

Community Visions Programseeks more input from residents

Neighbourly Dead ZoneResponsive to Local Complaint

The Hastings-Sunrise (H-S) Com-munity Vision, approved by CityCouncil in 2004, was developed bypeople who live and work in H-S, withthe assistance of City staff. The Visionwill be used at City Hall to guide deci-sions affecting H-S, and to set priori-ties for funding, programs andservices. For the community, theVision provides a focus for localactions and initiatives.

Work has also started on makingthe approved Community Visions areality: issues such as dealing withtraffic around schools, communityclean-ups, zoning reviews in shoppingareas, traffic concerns on major roadsand developing better ways for resi-dents to communicate with each other

and with City Hall have all been raisedin other Community Vision meetings.

The work of the CommunityVision committee is ongoing. Anyresident of Hastings-Sunrise is wel-come to bring a project idea to theCityPlan Committee to see how it fitsinto the vision and begin to get itimplemented.

Meetings of the CityPlan Commit-tee are held monthly and sub-commit-tees are formed to deal with specificareas of interest. To find out moreabout upcoming meeting dates andtimes, please call Catherine Buckhamat 604-873-7265

For more information about theHastings-Sunrise Community Visionsissues raised so far, log on towww.vancouver.ca/visions and followthe links to Hastings Sunrise.

The Dead Zone. It doesn't sound like you’d want to

live next door to it ... but it turns out tohave Good Neighbour qualities!

A McGill Street resident noticedmuch more trash than usual strewnalong the sidewalks west from Ren-frew one day in late February.

Among the debris was a call sheetfrom the set of “The Dead Zone”, a TVseries based on a Stephen King noveland produced at 3330 Bridgeway.

That same day he saw a “binner”

climbing onto a #4 bus at McGill andKaslo with two bulging garbage bags,one of them clanking and leaking liq-uids. He called the Dead Zone officeto ask if someone might have raidedtheir dumpsters and then discardedunusable trash en route to a recyclingdepot.

By the next afternoon, the McGillsidewalks and boulevards had beenpicked clean. Location manager MaryJo Biernes confirmed that Dead Zonestaff had done the prompt clean-up.

BY BRENDA PENTON

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN REPORT CRIMES ONLINE?

Log on to www.vpd.ca to report any minor property crimes thatdo not exceed $5,000. You will need a valid e-mail address toaccess this service.

You can also access police crime statistics, media releases, crimeprevention tips, emergency preparedness information and vpdhuman resources and recruiting information.

“Pooch Patrol” pictures from page 1...

ous and these may be moved upin priority. Crimes that exhibit athreat of violence, for example,will take priority over propertyrelated crimes. Calls such as sus-picious persons or noise com-plaints are given the lowestpriority. These calls are assignedif a police unit is available and hasno other priority calls waiting.

Please do not get discour-aged if police do not arrive toinvestigate your complaintquickly. It is simply a matter oftiming; if a unit is free to take acall or if one happens to be inthe area, your call will beanswered faster than at othertimes. Some days are busierthan others – one major call,such as a shooting, might utilizemost of the police resourcesavailable.

Incidents that have no sus-pect information should becalled into the non-emergencyline (604) 717-3321. Examples ofthese types of complaints wouldbe discovering that your car hasbeen broken into or realizing mer-chandise from your business hasgone missing and may have beenstolen a few days ago.

In addition to informing thepolice of such crimes, it is alsoimportant to inform your localCommunity Police Centre (CPC)of the crime. Do not assume thatthe CPC is aware of all crimereported in the area. That task is

overwhelming and practicallyimpossible. A call to the Com-munity Policing Centre, at 604-717-3584, will update theCentre with crime trends andother important informationthat could lead to the identifica-tion of suspects or the applica-tion of other police resources todeal with the problem such as theDrug or Vice squads.

Please remember that policestatistics also play a part in effec-tive policing. Every time you callto report a crime it is logged intoour statistics database. Maps aremade every week indicatingwhere certain types of crime

have occurred throughout theCity. When an area is identifiedas having a high number of inci-dents, resources are directed tothat area to address the problem.If no one calls to report thesecrimes, however, the police willnot see any problems in thatcommunity and police resourceswill be directed elsewhere.

If you observe somethingsuspicious, or hear a call forhelp, please phone 911. Youmay be saving a life. It onlytakes a few minutes of yourtime to make a 911 call anddoing so helps make our neigh-bourhood a safer place.

Hastings Office2401 East Hastings StreetVancouver, BC,V5K 1Y8604-717-3584

Wall Street Office2001 Wall StreetVancouver, BC,V5K 5E4604-717-2933

NewsletterContributorsKaty GammiRachel GarrickChester GrantCst. Mike LindeClair MacGouganBrenda PentonJessica Wei

Board of DirectorsElaine BarbourJoan FletcherLayne PearseBrenda PentonAnnella LuongoMichael McKinleyChester GrantCindy VlakMaya RussellLily Wong

VPD’s 9-1-1 statistics impact community safety

PUTTING THE WORD OUTMike Linde emphasizes the importance of calling 9-1-1 everytime you encounter a potentially dangerous situation.

Photo: Jessica Wei

www.hastingsnorthcpc.com

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