The Tri-Cities' two police forces are gearing up for the 2016 arrival of the Evergreen Line with a request for new officers and research into expected crime trends.
Coquitlam RCMP is asking for 12 new officers over the next two years for a program dubbed E-Watch, which would have a primary focus on patrolling high-crime areas and adding foot patrols in Town Centre and around the Evergreen Line stations.
"The idea of E-Watch is that they would work the peak periods," Supt. Claude Wilcott told The Tri-City News, with general duty members working their regular 12-hour shifts and E-Watch officers working during busier times of the day and in locations identified as crime hot spots through the detachment's bi-weekly CompStat meetings. E-Watch officers stationed in various zones would take calls for service in those areas and provide high-visibility proactive enforcement, he said.
"So it's not necessarily specific to the Evergreen Line, however traditionally, our crime hot spots are in and around Town Centre and up in Burquitlam, which will coincide with where the line will be," Wilcott said.
Those stats were reinforced by a recent Transit Police study, which found the Evergreen Line isn't expected to bring a sudden spike in crime levels.
The study used data from the PRIME records system to compare crime levels before and after the Canada Line was built as a way of predicting future trends along the Evergreen Line, and found little to indicate a significant impact on violent or property crime in the Tri-Cities, in part because it will replace an existing high-volume bus route along a major transportation corridor.
It also found violent crime hot spots existed near the Canada Line stations before it opened in the summer of 2009, which is similar to Coquitlam stats for areas surrounding future Evergreen stations.
"We've been in consultation with a number of our neighbouring detachments on their experiences... and in order for us to continue to work on the crime reduction strategy, we need to have sufficient resources that can respond to those needs," Wilcott said. "Our high-crime areas are in the same areas where the stations will be, so when you increase the number of people coming in, you're going to increase the calls for service."
The cost of the 12 new officers, if approved, would add $1.8 million to Coquitlam's budget. Wilcott will be making a similar budget presentation to Port Coquitlam's council; if that city decides not to help fund the additional officers, a smaller number would remain within Coquitlam's boundaries only.
Wilcott noted Coquitlam RCMP will take a "collaborative approach" with the Transit Police to target crime along the Evergreen Line.
Port Moody Police Department is also in discussions with the transit force on planning for the future transit line.
"We're preparing a plan on how to move forward when the train comes in, and we'll work with them in partnership... and we'll work with them to explain to the community what the plan is," said PMPD Chief Const. Chris Rattenbury.
He acknowledged that, given SkyTrain's history in other areas, residents will be concerned about the potential for increased crime in Port Moody, and that a significant part of the work ahead will be communicating with the public on how security will be handled.
Informing those plans will be the Transit Police report, as well as PoMo-specific research by SFU's Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies (ICURS).
Rattenbury said the SFU report is expected in the spring and will focus on predicting crime trends based on potential growth anticipated with the new official community plan.
"Do we need more members, whether it's one or two or three or four, or maybe we don't need any," Rattenbury said. "I can't predict that just because the Evergreen Line is coming that calls for service are going to go up. I need something more concrete than that."
The Transit Police report found that in Port Moody, similar to Coquitlam, crime hot spots are already located in areas where the stations will be located and the Evergreen Line isn't expected to cause a significant spike, although Rattenbury said he expects to see some increase in service calls given the greater number of people moving through the area.
In the meantime, Rattenbury is looking at reorganizing the PoMo department to develop a "flex team" to assist with high-demand areas and integration of the Evergreen Line.
"It's still in the development stages," he said. "It's shuffling bodies and trying to use existing bodies to leverage ourselves" for future needs.
@spayneTC
