jane SE Ee ery esti ary STR TFL ¥ ENTE ENTITY SP 2 fa f. a { g POLICE RESPOND TO 7 CALLS A DAY False alarms jump 26% in West Van WEST VANCOUVER Police are reeling in the face of a staggering rise in false alarm calls in the municipality. By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter Police statistics show the department responded to a total of 2,625 false alarm calls between Aug. 1, 1987 and July 31 of this year. But during the same period, police responded to only two alarm calls where it was confirmed that a crime, or attempted crime, had taken place. Police responded to 7.19 false alarm calis per day dur- ing the study period. The figures put police response to false alarm calls second in vol- ume behind the number one call made to police, reports of theft under $1,000. a In addition to the direct depletion of manpower, the department’s police dispatch centre is often overloaded by the sheer volume of false alarm calls during power surges or periods af inclement weather. False alarm calls between August and October of this year alone, were up almost 26 per cent over the same period in 1987. Alarm calls are treated as priority calls by police. West Vancouver Police Cpl. Dick Clancy, who has spearheaded the department's investigation in- to the false alarm crisis, estimates that police response to false alarm calls is costing the department half aman a day, or six hours a shift in lost time. In addition to the direct deple- tion of manpower, the depart- ment’s police dispatch centre is often overloaded by the sheer vol- unknown causes. But police attribute the increase in false alarms to an increase in the number of alarm systems being in- stalled in homes (most new West Vancouver homes are being pre- wired for systems), and a pro- liferation of fly-by-night alarm companies servicing West Van- couver homes and businesses. Clancy said alarm installations are up by approximately 40 per cent over the number installed in the past few years. There are ap- proximately 20 alarm companies legitimately licenced in West Van- couver, but more than double the number are currently operating in the municipality. Said Clancy: ‘‘We're hearing of new companies installing systems here every week.”” He estimates that fewer than half of the companies operating in West Vancouver have what are called security licences. To obtain a business licence in West Van- couver, a copy of the firm’s securi- ty licence must accompany the company's application. The security licence is a creature of the provincial Private In- vestigators and Security Agencies Act enacted in 1980. The licence, in addition to personal security licences held by alarm company employees, ensures a level of pro- fessional standards. The act in- cludes provision for a $10,000 fine for companies found in violation of the terms of the legislation. But during the eight years the act has been in place, police departments throughout the province have not prosecuted more than a dozen vio- lations of the act. But said Clancy: ‘‘When we get an alarm call, we cannot send of- ficers outside of our jurisdiction to an outlying area to prosecute an alarm company."’ Clancy said a legitimate firm will obtain the names of references who can be contacted when an alarm sounds. Ideally the company will have runners available to shut down the system when no one else is available. But some ‘companies are connecting customers to tele- phone answering services that are not properly licensed or equipped. Many of the companies do not have runners available to correct problems. And many do not main- SEE WEST VANCOUVER B&E EDITORIAL: PAGE 6 ume of false alarm calls during power surges or periods of incle- ment weather. In many cases audible alarms cannot be cancell- ed. The alarm industry estimates 60 to 70 per cent of false alanns are caused by user error, 15 per cent can be attributed to weather, five per cent are caused by equipment failure and five per cent are tain a record of references who may be contacted to deactivate a system. The answering services simply automatically notify police. Said Clancy: “Should you be considering an alarm system, a simple way to determine if the firm that you are considering is proper- ly licensed is to contact the licens- ing department at the West Van- couver municipal hall.’ 3 - Sunday, December 4, 1988 - North Shore News . % ay, NEWS photo Terry Peters GORD JONES unloads toys at the North Vancouver Christmas Bureau Toy store. Two thousand do!lars worth of toys was recently bought with money that members of the North Shore Credit Union staff associa- tion raised from all NSCU branches. Christmas charities seeking donations WITH LESS than a month to go until Christmas, ap- plications for vouchers and food hampers are pouring in- to the North Shore’s two Christmas charities. “We're getting a huge amount of mail,"’ said Pat Orr, chairman of the North Vancouver Christmas Bureau. ‘‘Schools, Brownies, Scouts — they’re all helping to make up food hampers.”’ “‘We're sorting out and pack- ing toys,” said Ruth Stout, chairman of the West Vancouver Santa Claus Fund. ‘‘Everything’s starting to roll.’’ Things are well under way at the two local Christmas charities, which help to make Christmas a special time for needy families living on the North Shore. Food hampers are collected and distributed to families in need — such as a single mother, a handicapped person, or out- of-work parents. ““We're in real need of food,’’ said Stout. Both Orr and Stout are hoping for plenty of dona- tions this year. Last year, the Christmas Bureau helped about 740 families in North Vancouver — prompt- ing Orr to note that many North Shore families are in need of help. “I thought there were needy people here, but I wasn’t aware that there were so many,’’ she said. At the helm of the drive to meet this need is the North Shore News, together with a number of local businesses, which is organiz- ing a drive of non-perishable food items to assist both chari- ties. As in previous years, the famil- By EVELYN JACOB iar News banners and posters are being set up around the North Shore marking collection depots for the food drive. Once the depots are in place, a list of drop-off locations will be published in an upcoming News CEE oD KPT ASI RIAN wy Ma tS Wl SLE LP oY La CHRISTMAS Merchants interested in setting up a depot should contact Dorinda Emery at the News of- fice at 985-2131. Maintaining its strong com- mitment to helping those in need, the News is donating 50 teddy bears this year on behalf of its Major advertisers to the Christmas Bureau’s Toy Store, where needy parents can shop for their children. “People can make donations of any kind of toy,”’ said Orr, People wishing to donate new or used toys to the Christmas Bureau’s Toy Stcre can do so by calling 984-TOYS. In West Vancouver, the Santa Claus Fund is accepting dona- tions of toys which will be delivered to families by the municipality’s fire department. Donations of toys or non- perishables may be dropped off at any West Vancouver fire hall, or by calling the Santa Claus Fund office at 922-6522. To help with the drive, the North Shore Credit Union has set up a special account for those wishing to make a donation to the North Vancouver Christmas Bureau. The Royal Bank at !705 Marine Drive in West Vancouver is also accepting donations to the Santa Claus Fund. Contributors to either fund will be issued an income tax receipt for their donation. When the caro! ships roll ir next month, people greeting them in various North Vancouver City and District parks may also drop off donations at special Christmas Bureau depots provid- ed. The News Classified depart- ment is selling Christmas greet- ings to businesses and citizens, which will be published in the Dec. 25 issue of the News. One- third of the funds received will go to the Santa Claus Fund and the Christmas Bureau. Call 986-6222 before Dec 19 to place a Christmas greeting. Both Orr and Stout meanwhile encourage people to donate to the Christmas charities. “It’s the time of year when we help each other. It’s a friendship time all over the world,”’ said Orr, * Cheques or food gift certifi- cates can be mailed directly to the charities — WVSF at P.O. Box 91114, West Vancouver, V7V 3N3, or the NVCB at P.O. Box 86081, North Vancouver, V7L 435. WV investigates vote addition errors WEST VANCOUVER District staff have launched an in- vestigation into why three major errors were made in vote calculations for the sixth and seventh place aldermanic fin- ishers in the Nov. 19 municipal elections. District clerk Doug Allan said Wednesday it was not unusual for changes of 10 to 30 votes to be made from unofficial vote tallies called into district hall from the various polling stations the night of the election and the official tally compiled subsequently, ‘‘but what is unusual here is that three errors By TIMOTHY RENSHAW News Reporter were made and all those errors im- pacted the sixth and seventh place candidates.’” The errors occurred in the results telephoned into district hall from the polling election night. Allan discovered the errors when he was tabulating the official vote counts. “‘That’s why the totals are unof- ficial until they are checked,’’ Allan said. Broadcaster Barrie Clark, with 5,933 votes, was initially declared the unofficial winner of the sixth and fast aldermanic seat the night of the election. But Carol Ann Reynolds, who was initially 104 votes behind Clark, was declared the official winner after errors were discovered in-the addition of both candidates’ totals. Reynolds ended with 5,999 votes compared with Clark’s 5,794. With Reynolds gaining 170 votes and Clark losing 139, major addition errors for the two candidates totalled 309 votes. Allan said the three main errors originated at three different pclling stations. In the first, the addition of 148 and 190 votes for Reynolds was added as 148 plus 19 votes; in the second error Clark was given 386 votes when he had 306 and in the third main error he was given 195 votes when he had 145. Allan said all totals are double checked at the polling stations. “What happened should have been caught,’’ Allan said. The investigation into the mistakes, he said, should be com- pleted within the next two weeks.