| Cri inals beware Police. and business owners take action against vandals, thieves and grow-ops i }, ” A special report by Margaret Speirs | Vacant lot leads to vandalism | against downtown merchant _ ONE DOWNTOWN business owner says he’s frustrated with repeated vandalism :to his store: due to an overgrown hedge in a messy vacant lot next door. John Heighington says since the Esso station closed on the corner of Lazelle and Emerson, the. lot has not only been unkempt, but vandals have: taken advantage of the shelter of the tall hedge on the vacant lot to damage his business. Heighington has replaced two.doors and four windows on his business thanks to vandals. “My doors have been kicked in. My walls have had concrete bricks thrown at them,” he says. ‘Vandals have hurled concrete curbs, the three- foot long concrete bars that stop a vehicle when it drives in a parking spot, into his building. This regularly happens each: weekend during. the night, he says. “In the downtown core there’s s always some- "— one walking around,” he says. . “They’re not giving us enough respect down- town. They want service’ and then they trash our building.” Heighington even had raffle tickets stolen off his counter. As a Rotarian, he was selling tickets for the an- nual duck race. “I worked hard to sell them. I have 100 to sell,” he says. , “You can go into other stores where other Ro- tarians have books to sell. What are they going to. do? You can’t leave anything on the counter.” He says the city of Terrace isn’t to blame, the vacant lot management company is failing to maintain the property. “IT have asked the ‘city to ask [the property] management to clean it up,” he says, adding he | believes a Kitimat company had been hired to maintain the lot, x WAKE WADE \| JOHN HEIGHINGTON holds a maple leaf and some garbage, both of which line the fence along the old Esso vacant lot across the alley from his laundromat ing unkempt lot and vandalism. . about Jetting it get broken: down and then fixing itup.” ° He says he’ d love to take over as the property maintenance man and clean up the “eye sore” He notes a hole in the fence and the hedge that, before being cut down recently, was as tall as the fence, thereby blocking drivers’ view of traffic in the alley or on Emerson. He says cars have smashed into his building or nearly crashed into each other and then blamed him. City officials told him they spoke to the. management of the property about two weeks ago and said hopefully there would be some improve- ment. “I think they mowed the lawn or something but both sides of the fence are loaded with gravel and . crap and garbage,” Heighington says. He says he can’t afford to pay the insurance on Emerson. He's fed up with the ongo- . SNE “7 i ABS is, ‘ } iy" SANce ; oxy ; 7 st ae “What’s the sense? You cannot use insurance unless the building burns down,” he'says. ‘“We have a lot of merchants. That’s what this town is about: small business, and they’ re cheesed right off.” Heighington’s started to mistrust potential cus- tomers. “Then you start looking at people who come into the store and aren’t doing laundry,” he says. “What are they doing here? Are they just tak- ing a break because it’s raining or snowing?. “Do you let them warm up? Do you: let them use the bathroom?” Heighington wants the public to be aware of - downtown business owners’ plight. “If you educate them, they might keep their eyes open or say. “hey you’ re hurting the down- — town core who can’t stay in business if you disre- “They wait until it looks like a dog’ s breakfast but maintenance is about Keeping it in shape, not BOB PARK, owner of All Seasons Source for Sports, installed bars on the windows to deter thieves from breaking and entering. His store suffered two break- ins this year that resulted in the loss of thousands of , dollars of merchandise. Local RCMP « on lookout — for grow-op activity costs every time vandals Strike. — ; ® THIEVES have mounted an attack on downtown stores and business owners have - had enough. “All downtown core merchants are band- ing. fogether to form an association,” says “Bob, Park," owner of All'Seasons Source for ~ Sports, whose ‘establishment suffered: two . break-ins and the loss of about $5,000 of merchandise this year. “It’s out of control and the merchants aren’t going to sit back. We’re going to work together,” he says. | “We’ll keep communications open among all merchants.” And it’s not just the downtown businesses. Park says the goal is to get all store own- ers involved citywide. . “We're hoping for 50 or 60 once the word is spread,” he says. He says to work as a community, store - owners need to keep in contact with each _ other and that the public needs to report any- thing they see that’s out of the ordinary. He believes he’s witnessed thieves ex- changing money for stolen items right in front of his store. He also believes the RCMP knows about " the problem in the downtown area. “They’re well aware of it,” he says. “Tt’s the same people doing it.” _ Terrace RCMP are helping business own- - ers and have offered some ideas to assist frustrated merchants. “The RCMP have been wonderful,” Park’ says. “They’re talking about getting back into foot patrols and bike patrols.” . Inspector Marlin Degrand says he’s talk- ed to Park about his concerns. “We're looking at different ways to assist , . the merchants,” he says. ”We've done some work in the past with merchants with break-ins and shoplifting and they’ ve assisted us with prosecutions.” ‘He says charging the culprits could help put a damper on the crimes by making them less attractive. He acknowledges that foot patrols have Spect them. 999 Frustrated shop owners band together "been suggested but “resourcing issues” need ~ to be addressed. He says Terrace RCMP receives a num- ber of calls for service during the day and .with the, limited, number. of officers: avail-: able, it’s not possible to dedicate someone-- A to be a full time foot patroller. Instead, the detachment is looking at perhpas having a part-time foot patrol officer or conducting random patrols. Thefts may not seem like a large issue but over an extended period of time they have a cumulative impact on merchants, Degrand says. “Twenty or $50 at a time adds up,” he says. As for whether thieves are involved with drugs, Degrand says that i is a common prob- lem. . “I am going to say it’s not at all uncom- ° mon with people with addictions or sub- stance abuse issues to engage in all manners of criminal activity to‘do that, from shoplift- ing to robberies and everything i in between,” he says. “Substance abuse and addiction i issues is one of the leading causes of criminal behav- . jour.” Although other reasons can be behind crimes. “Sometimes it’s a straight monetary gain. Sometimes it’s thrill seeking,” says. Many individuals engage in criminal ac- tivities to support a bigger issue, a fact that’s not lost on the police, he says. “In a general sense criminal act substance - abuse issues are not unique to Terrace,” he says. , “It’s something I’ve seen in five differ- ent provinces and territories throughout my entire career.” Degrand would like to see a balance. . Struck with merchants to search for a solu- . tion that results from them and police. “There’s a great deal of will among mer- chants to be part of the solutions," he says. Terrace vs. P R. TERRACE RCMP have investigated several grow-ops over the last five years with some charges laid. Here’s how. we compare to another city of compa- rable size in police grow-op investigations and charges: Degrand - teamwork between. GROW-OP BUSTS are a major priority for Terrace RCMP and they’ re not alone in their search for these criminals. Local police have been working with oth- er detachments in the northwest to curb the start of any more marijuana producers. Terrace RCMP inspector Marlin Degrand said grow-op statistics have remained rela- tively static and have stayed flat over a five or 10 year period. “At this point in time, they’re a relatively - Stable thing. They’ re not burgeoning but not _ disappearing,” he said. “We try to target people doing the most _ damage to the community.” While grow-ops always involve the growth of marijuana, Degrand said many - cases result in other charges such as posses- ’ sion of other drugs, illegal firearms offences and other offences. The detachment is actively searching for grow-ops. “It’s obviously important and at any given time we’re looking at illicit traffickers and illicit production or trafficking of can- nabis,” he said. The Terrace detachment uploads its own information to a national database to share its knowledge with other RCMP detachments in B.C. and Canada. .Degrand says information is exchanged weekly or in a timely manner to northwest area detachments. As for methamphetamine production, he says the alleged lab busted last year just down the block from his detachment,. is the only one found here so far. “There have been no other reported labs in the area,” he said. Police have received numerous tips but none were found to be labs. 2001 — 39 investigations and four lead to charges for cul- Terrace* 2004 — 31 investigations into grow operations with three charges laid 2003 — 47 investigations with eight charges laid for cul- tivation 2002 — 28 investigations with six cultivation charges, tivation 2000 — 63 investigations and: six charges *production of controlled substance files that resulted in at least one charge of cultivation against one person or more Prince Rupert** 2004 — seven files and one charge 2003 — 14 files and two charges 2002 — six files and no charges 2001 — six files and one charge 2000 — 10 files and two charges **ajl charges were for production of a controlled substance The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 15, 2005 - A5 a eee CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag CELEBRATING the success of the Hearts for Ryan fundraiser at’ Skeena Junior Secondary in March » was (from left to right): Nash Park, Siobhan Sloan: -McMullen, Terrace firefighter and search and rescue volunteer Dave Jephson, Patsy Chant, Arlene Ridler, Kathryn Goodwin and Amy Peltier. Chant holds the $5,500 cheque raised by Skeena’ students who ° purchased hearts in memory of Ryan Ridler who. i drowned last year. The money will be used to pur- . chase a unit which heats oxygen prior to givingitto people suffering from.hypothermia. —_. Pte ‘DUSTIN QUEZADA PHOTO * Family’ says thank you for amazing effort . ' Dear Sir: - This letter is a thank you to a great group of kids ats, . Skeena Junior Secondary. The leadership group started a fund raising project in memory of our son, Ryan Ridler. woe Within a short period of time with the support of their’ teachers, other schools; fellow students and many’ won- : derful people in our area, they bought a major piece of life saving equipment. This equipment is for Terrace Search ‘and Rescue. vo It makes us SO proud and humbled that this group > of , students turned such horrible loss into such a positive thing. ; If this piece of equipment can manage to save one per- son’s life, it was worth every cent. After all, what is one person’s.life worth? Our family received such incredible support during our loss from so many people which continues to this day. . Although we would:do:anything: to! have: our-sont back, maybe. someone else. will, live. because of this:equipment, Thank‘ ‘you to all the people who “helped these students achieve their goal. We indeed have some incredible up- coming citizens. I hope to try and keep this effort going yearly i in Feb- ruary in Ryan’s name. “Hearts for Ryan” to help support - the Terrace Search and Rescue. They are such a dedicated’ group of people. We are extremely lucky to have this group in our com- munity. Not to mention such a great group of kids, Thank you again, Terrace. The Ridler Family, Terrace, B.C.. _ Fish farms threaten wild Skeena salmon An open letter to: | Minister of Fisheries and Ocean, The Honourable Geoff. Regan, PC MP, ° Ottawa, Ontario, Dear Mr. Regan: There is widespread concern among the citizens. of British Columbia on the government’s plans to locate fin-. . -fish farms near the mouth of the Skeena River. These salmon farms that are planned will be located di- rectly in the migratory path of wild Skeena salmon runs. Scientists have confirmed that sea lice thrive in and around fish farms and endanger young wild salmon, Skeena river wild salmon of all species are world re- - nowned. I fail to understand the government’s decision __ to allow more finfish farms when studies show how ex- * tremely harmful these farms are to wild salmon. The use of pesticides, fungicides, antibiotics and other chemicals to treat sea lice, diseases and a host of other problems caused by fish farms compound the danger that. face the young wild salmon. The minister may be aware that escaped farmed Atian- tic salmon threaten the biological integrity of our precious wild salmon stocks. As a citizen of Canada and British Columbia, I cannot | condone these risks to the wild salmon, their habitats, the _pollution of these coastal waters, the loss of these impor- tant natural resources would mean to the people today and to future generations. | This is equally important to the bear habitat, birds and the eco systems. I believe the questionable economic benefits of finfish farming to our communities do not warrant risking the valuable and irreplaceable wild salmon populations and therefore cannot be justified by our lawmakers and public” officials. Iurge your immediate consideration to restore a mora- torium.on fish farming until the above mentioned issues _are properly addressed by science and, clearly understood by the public. , Thank you for your consideration and reply. ‘Mary G. Dalen, , ’ Cedarvale, B.C. About the Mail Bag. The Terrace Standard welcomes letters: Our . address is 3210 Clinton St., Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail us at newsroom @terracestandard.com. Noattachments, please. Name, address andphone number required forverification.