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Reg. cops worth talk

The Editor, With the recommendations from the Pickton inquiry, there has been some discussion of regionalizing Metro Vancouver police forces. I fully support these discussions as a Lower Mainland resident and a former Port Moody city councillor.

The Editor,

With the recommendations from the Pickton inquiry, there has been some discussion of regionalizing Metro Vancouver police forces. I fully support these discussions as a Lower Mainland resident and a former Port Moody city councillor.

I once looked out a window to see my van being stolen in Port Moody, 30 seconds from the Coquitlam border. I was able to call in the theft immediately and, fortunately, PoMo Police officers found my van within minutes - in Coquitlam. When I asked them how the inter-force communication works, with a moving crime happening so close to the municipal boundary, they told me that Coquitlam RCMP wouldn't even be alerted .

While a car theft is not a serious crime, I fail to believe that not informing police in the vicinity makes sense. I also wonder how open the communication channel even is - I know when calling 911, not only do I need to state the kind of emergency but also the municipality so I can be put through to the right dispatch. These delays would be very stressful in an urgent situation. What happens if you are near a municipal boundary and don't even know what city you are in? And if you're near the many municipal boundaries in our region, are the closest officers being alerted or just the ones within that municipality?

I heard an officer with IHIT, the regional integrated homicide unit, interviewed on radio this past week and he sidestepped the question of whether things would be better if all the cities were forced to participate in IHIT. All he would do was point to the increased cooperation he'd seen between forces since the heinous crimes of Robert Pickton.

Let's have the debate and let's not let it be clouded by loud voices that may be motivated by workforce seniority or municipal turf issues that might exist in a unified force. Let's have our discussion be transparent and focused on effective and efficient public safety.

Cynthia van Ginkel, Burnaby