AN OFFICER AND HIS CRUISER: Constable Kevin Douglas is ane of 20 general duty officers at the Terrace detachment who respond to everything from assaults to mischief calls in the Ter- race area. Douglas has been at the detachment for six months. How violent is Terrace? By CHRISTIANA WIENS MURDERS, SEXUAL assaults, armed robber- ies, and assaults with violence — it’s the stuff of prime time television shows and lower mainland - newscasts. Oris it? Most residents think of Terrace as a safe place ‘to raise children away from the hustle and bustle of big city crime. But the detachment has already recorded 31 violent crimes within Terrace city limits this year. : In 1999, Terrace and area, with a population of more than 21,000 people had one murder in the outlying areas, eight robberies, 22 reported sexual assaults and 272 common and spousal as- saults. Violent crime includes murders, assaults, armed robberies against pecple. It is recorded separately from property of- fences (such as home robberies and shoplifting), drug charges and traffic offences such as im- paired driving. handled 3,248 criminal offences and almost 15 per cent of those were violent, Based on a historical average of caseloads, Cpl. Rod Holland says Terrace’s crime rate isn’t much different than Kitimat’s or Prince Rupert’s. “It’s n0 worse or no better,” he said. Holland said Prince Rupert has a reputation for heroin because it’s a port city and therefore closer to the source of imported drugs. For assaults and other violent crime, Holland said the two city’s case loads are very similar. Holland knows the crime situation looks bad. For a relatively small urban centre, Terrace has had two murders in nine months, “Its never good when we have a murder,” Holland said. “But crime isn’t predictable.” Maybe not, but Spt. Anders Udsen of the ser- ious crime unit says it’s a lot more common here than statistics would allow you to believe. “I’ve worked in a lot of detachments, includ- ing Prince Rupert and there’s no comparison,” Udsen said. When it comes to armed robberies, he said, The total number of violent crime offences asthe Terrace detachment’ handles’ three times ‘the recorded.:just-within Terrace city limits :to,the.end_, ,.cases,of Kitimatand Prince Rupert combined. ‘of December last. year was 304. ea ne That’s. down four offences from 308 violent crimes,.of a total of 2,022 criminal code of- - fences, recorded in Terrace in 1998. That means about 15 per cent of all crime in Terrace in 1998 was considered violent. That same year, Terrace’s municipal crime rate, or number of criminal code offences, ex- cluding traffic violations, was 146 per 1,000 resi- dents. Vancouver's 1998 crime rate was 154 crimes _ per 1,000 population, not that much higher than Terrace’s, Only nine per cent of Vancouver's crime was considered violent. Compare that te 1998 violent crime in Kitimat (municipal) of almost 19 per cent of all 1998 cri- minal offences. In Prince Rupert, the municipal detachment Violent crime angers and stuns survivors VICTIMS OF violent crime are some of the most trau- matized people in Terrace. “Often they’re not sleeping and not eating properly,” said Sherry Pellegrino, a victim’s assistance staff mem- ber at the RCMP detachment. “There ate so many things that can go wrong,” she said in describing how people are affected. “Most people are forever changed in some way.” As one of two paid and 10 volunteer victim’s assis- tance members at the detachment, Pellegrino helps people in crisis situations, sometimes getting called out in the middle of the night. At any given time, the victim’s assistance group handles between 70 to 90 ongoing files, 30 of them new that- month. Each file tells a story of Besides the Linda Cefrané fatal'stabbing in'a Braun Street townhouse Dec. 9, 1998 and the shooting death of Donald Pears near Ritchies Landing Sept. 27, 1999, Terrace investigators spent the last year working on a number of mis- sing persons cases. As a comparison, Kitimat investigators are working on the Kevin Vermette file and Prince Rupert officers are working on a murdered woman file dating back to January. “We've had a pretty fair blast [of serious crime] for the last little while,” Udsen said. As proof, Udsen says, other detachments do not need as much help from serious crime invest- igators in Prince George. “They've been here half a dozen limes in the last year,” he said. Udsen said he’s not sure what brings offen- ders here, but noted Terrace tas become the lar- someone, who has survived an assault, suicide attempt, Stalking incident or have been involved in any number traumatizing situations. Her clients range from the parents of mistreated tod- Pellegrino, member. “Trust becomes a big issue,” — Sherry RCMP victims assistance staff dlers to seniors, from the hy- AT THE SCENE OF THE CRIME: Diane Pritchard is just one of many clerks whe work at the Capperside store on Clarke Avenue where a man is said to have waved an axe, assaulted a customer and stolen cash last winter. says cashiers who work the night shift are stil nervous about the incident. Assaults dominate daily court lists gest urban centres in the northwest. “Everyone has to came through here,” he said. For some unexplained reason, serious crime - picks up in the fall, “Every September and October something happens,” Udsen said listing a string of murders here dating hack to December, 1974, when Mon- ica Ignas went missing. The 15-year-old’s body was found on a log- ging road near her Thornhill home on April 8, 1975, Her killer has never been found. “Summer is never that bad and spring is the quietest,” Udsen said. “Maybe the mushroom pickers have something to do with il, we don’t know.” Crime rate to boom TERRACE’S CRIME rate should skyrocket next year because of a change in the way crimes are reported. . “We live and die by, our statistics,” said Cpl... Rod Helland, explaining the detachment’s bud- get and number of officers depends on this city’s crime rate. But under the old system, he says, the stalis- tics didn’t tell the whole story. So last July, offi- cers starting recording things differently in an altempt to get more officers and money from the government. For example, if an officer was called to a bloody brawl outside the local pub, but, by the time he got there, the fighters had disappeared — the instance would still be logged as a distur- bance, even though no one was apprehended at the scene. Under the old system, explained Holland, the _ officer's time simply wasn’t accounted for real- istically. “Under that system we had a relatively slow detachment,” he said. She The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 29, 2000 - AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD sterical to the person who just needs to talk. Most of the program’s clients are women, which Pel- legrino says, is probably because of the large number. of stalking and domestic violence disputes, In the ease of robberies and break and enters, some- times women are more apt to talk about feelings, she said, : Many people are so emotionally: scarred, they feel ‘angry, afraid and suspicious of anyone that remotely Jooks like their offender long after the actual incident. 4 ‘ “Trust becomes a big issue,” said Pellegrino. | It’s Pellegrino’s job to listen to victims and reassure them that whatever emotions they’re feeling are comple- tely okay. : Sometimes survivors of violent crime lose sleep, and become depressed to the point they can no longer work. | The program’s caseload usually peaks in January and February and for about ‘a month in July, ' But it can also rise when Terrace has a rash of armed’ fobberies or break ins close together, ON ONE OF the busiest provincial court days in Terrace at the end of last month, 34 per cent of the lime was made up by vio- lent crime charges. With limited court time and operating one Crown - lawyer short, the list repre- sents court appearances for more than 40 people fa- cing 74 charges that day. For some, the listing was their first time they’ve appeared on the charge fa- cing them, For others, iat was one appearance of many on a_ particular charge. The charges included ‘appearances by. court Linda Lefrane’s accused killer and Paul Bernard Wadsworth, accused in the September, 1999 shooting death east of Terrace, The court list included eight assaults, four charges of assaulting a peace offi- cer and four charges of as- sault causing bodily harm. Two people were charged with sexual as- sault, one of whom was charged also charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, The roster also includes weapons, two indecent acts and one threat ta cause harm, adding up to a total of 26 violent crimes, That leaves the remain- ing 66 per cent of the list to deal with four impaired driving cases, two drug files, dozens of properly crimes, a handful of of- fences against the federal fisheries or wildlife acts and several failures to comply with a court order. In youth court that month, violent crimes made up 19 per cent, or four of 21 charges, on the daily provincial court list . The list also included two impaired driving charges, five drug charges three property offences and seven breaches of proba- tion. The Mail Bag. Logging ban pact called a “sellout” Dear Sir: First the Clayquol, then the Walbran,. the South Moresby. When will environmental extrem- ists finally put the nail in the forest industry’s cof- fin in British Columbia? They won't. The. majors that operate in the province will do it to them- selves — socio-economic suicide will be the new buzzword. , Lock at it simply. The six majors on the coast — Weyerhauser, Canfor, Fletcher, Interfor, Western Forest Products and West Fraser — through what some people refer to as the “Coastal Forest Con- servation Iniliative” are negotiating with enviros to halt logging on the central and north coast for the next two years (indefinitely). In return, the enviros will suspend their activist campaigns aimed at European customers for B.C. forest products. Boy, now there’s a deal. First we allow the U.S. ta dictate the province’s forest policy via the soft- wood lumber agreement and now environmentalists are going to dictate forest and land policy in B.C. through boardrooms of Germany. Simply put, it’s a sellout - not not for a Ca- nucks game (which enviros should really be target- ing) — but for our industry and the livelihoods of ihe many communities on the coast that depend on logging and sawmilling jobs. Strangely enough, the proposed area being tar- geted omits the Queen Charlottes and Vancouver ‘Island. Weyerhauser, Canfor and Fletcher do not operate to any extent in this area and West Fraser simply doesn’t want to operate on the coast. No, it’s a sellout all right, If not, why weren’t the areas where Weyerhauser, Canfor and Fletcher operate included? Mainly because there is no old growth left on Vancouver Island and if the north coast is sacrificed that will be enough to keep the environmentalisis out of the interior as well where, by the way, clearcuts approach the size of small countries, Environmentalists argue that the Great Bear Rainforest is of global ecological importance and conservation is ne- cessary to protect the home of the Great Spirit Bear. Well, the spirit bear did just fine, thanks very much, until Terrace fenced its garbage dump. The enviros are well organized, well funded and extremely adept at developing slick, misin- farmation campaigns against foreign consu- [Ree mers of B.C, forest pro- : F ducts. | Justin Rigsby - Unfortunately, the forest industry lacks the ima- gination, creativity and intellect ta discredit activ- ists with the factual truths regarding our forests. However, there must be more to this proposal than meets the eye. How can forest companies ne- gotiated with environmentals over public lands? Is public input and the LRMP process not sufficient? Where does the government sit on this issue? The stumpage and tax revenue foregone could reach hundreds of millions. What about jobs and our communities? Employment insurance alone for 2,000 jobs would exceed $200,000,000 for one year. What about foreign customers? If they bow to pressure to source forest products elsewhere, the laws of supply and demand will end up costing them money. In fact, taking this supply out-of the global system will decrease supply and drive up the prices of forest products, benefiting foreign pro- ducers. , Maybe we need to examine who really stands to gain from this initiative. Not B.C. forest companies (in the long term), not forest dependent communi- ties on the north and central coast, not workers, not the government and not even the environmental- ists. They will just shift environmental pressure to other places. No, it will be the foreign producers who benefit. Maybe they are a source of funding for enviros? I never thought that when West Fraser gave up the Kitlope the enviros would be satisfied. This in- itiative proves it. The environmentalists will conti- nue to raise the bar higher and the industry will continue to be gullible enough to try and hurdle it, Now is not the time for appeasement for those that depend on the forest industry. It is a time to shall never surrender.” , Justin Rigsby, Terrace, B.C, 2 2 5 . A vicious little fish Dear Sir: Lengthy cold weather might have been good to change the water temperature in the ocean. Last summer while bottom fishing for halibut I caught a lot of a southern water fish called mackerel along the coast from Prince Rupert. With water temperatures being warmer, the fish scemed to move north. Mackerel is a very vicious little fish. I believe this has been the reason for loss of herring and probably young salmon. Mackerel seem to be down there with the hali- but at the depths of 200 to 300 feet or more. I found out they just love herring and herring is a prime source of food for our salmon. Things could change and have a great impact on our west coast fishing if weather doesn’t change grate south again, i They were not aware mackerel were this far north. They did say the Queen Charlottes had mackerel. I do see in the fishing regulations there is a daily limit of 100 or more. The ministry people doing up fishing regulations on the lower mainland must be aware of the pro- blem. Commercial and sports fishing will decline more if mother nature doesn’t do a turn around, George Chinn, Terrace, B.C, the water temperature, making the mackereLjpadies I spoke to the fisheries department in Terrace, sland up and say, in the words of Churchill, “We..