A serious sewage issue that shut down Ridgeway Community Police Station in Coquitlam is still being cleaned up and it is not known when the office will re-open.
The Ridgeway station has been closed since mid-February to allow time for workers to repair damage to walls and floors but fixing the problem is taking time, and it could be weeks or months before the office re-opens, according to Cpl. Michael McLaughlin, the RCMP spokesperson.
(In the meantime, the public is encouraged to visit the Burquitlam Community Police Station, located at 413-552 Clarke Rd., Coquitlam. Call 604-933-6833 for hours of operation.)
As a result, all volunteers who would normally be scheduled to work at Ridgeway have been moved to other community police stations until further notice. Approximately 15 to 20 volunteers have been affected, but their work at the other community police stations, including Burquitlam, is continuing.
Community police volunteers in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam are involved in writing reports, meeting the public, patrolling neighbourhoods and championing new initiatives.
Among the work they do is help with bike and foot patrols to support crime prevention and reduce auto theft, participate in ICBC’s Stolen Auto Recovery program, take non-emergency reports for minor incidents and attend community events to support education and deliver public safety programs such as Child ID, where they take children's fingerprints so that parents can include the prints in a package of information that could be used to identify a missing child.
As well, they help spearhead new initiatives to address public safety issues, such as the Bait Locker program, in which random lockers at recreation centres are outfitted with alarms to discourage thefts.
