58 — Friday, October 25, 1996 - North Shore News

Cl

crime and
punishment

TWO very distinct and
dangerous incidents
occurred recently in
Vancouver.

In cach case the police
were required to make life and
death decisions in the blink of
an eye. In the wake of cach
incident, they have been sub-
jected ta some public criticism
for the actions they took. Yet,
in retrospect, the police did
exactly the right thing in both
situations.

In the first incident,
Vancouver police were called
to deal with a distraught indi-
vidual who had been threaten-
ing his girlfriend. He couldn’t
accept the fact she no longer
wished to be with him. The
individual had a gun and
ammunition.

Police found the vehicle he
was driving in Stanley Park
and immediately called in the
Emergency Response Team
(ERT), who staked out the
car, When the man returned
to the parking spot, police
approached him with weapons
drawn. The man pulled out a
.32 calibre semi-automatic pis-
tol from under his coat and
cranked a bullet into the
chamber. The police officer
directly in front of the man
screamed at him to drop his
-weapon, but he began to point
the weapon at the officer. In
this split second in time, the
officer had to make a decision.
He reacted instinctively. He
fired two shots, directed at the
chest of his target. The suspect
fell and was later pronounced
dead at St. Vincent’s Hospital.

News reports claimed the
suspect was under treatment
for a mental disorder and he
may have not been taking his
medication. The media also
claimed the suspect had been
felled by tvo shots, one in his
chest and one in his head,

This, coupled with the fact
that the officer was a specially
trained ERT member, should
somehow have given him the
miraculous ability to hit the
suspect in the hand holding,
the gun, a two-inch terget at a
distance of 20 yards.

In reality, the officer fired
twice at the centre of mass, at
the chest of the suspect, the
widest and largest target avail-
able. The first shot hit the
intended place and the second
hit the man in the throat as he
was falling. This is in accor-
dance with the training the
officer received. He did his job
and he did it well. The officer
is still alive: ‘The suspect’s girl-
‘friend is unhurt.

The man who refused to
drop his wespon at police
command paid the ultimate

price. A tragedy, certainly. But,
if someone has to die, let it be
the orchestrator of the vio-
lence.

In the other incident,
members of the Vancouver
Police Strike Force were work-
ing on a couple of low-lifes
they suspected of robbing
banks at gunpoint. On this
day, they had the suspects
under surveillance and
watched them going toa
number of banks.

Towards the end of the
afternoon, one of the bandits
pushed his way into a bank on

DS shoe

Cambie Street just as the teller
was locking the door to close
business for the day, Knowing
what was happening in front
of them the police had to
make a difficult decision.

They didn’t want to create
a possible hostage situation
and jeopardize the lives of any-
one inside the bank, Nor
could they risk a shootout on
a busy city street. They did a
very difficult thing. ‘They
watched and waited.

When the suspect came
running out of the bank, the
police suspected he was
armed. Fle got into a getaway
car being driven by his accom-
plice, and sped away. The
police resisted the temptation
to go chasing after the rob-
bers. Instead they maintained
their disciplined surveillance.
They followed the crooks to
their house and watched them
go inside. Strike Foree mem-
bers then contained the house
and called the ERT. The cops

t straigh

didn’t have to wait long. The
crooks had money in their
pockets and drugs to buy,

When they came out,
Vancouver Police took them
by surprise and arrested them
without incident.

A good aperation, Two
bad guys in jail face with seri-
ous criminal charges. The
stolen money 2 "covered as evi-
dence. Another gun off the
streets and all without anyone
getting hurt. Yer, there are
those who will criticize the
police for allowing the suspect
to go into the bank in the first
place. Unfortunately, in order
to get the requisite evidence to
take the criminals off the
streets, they sometimes need
to sit back and wait for events
to take their course, even
though they know lives may
be risked.

Tough decision? Tough
job! ‘Thanktully, we have pros
doing it, not the idiots who
are far too quick to criticize.

NEWS photo Mike Waketield

Crafty kids

SISTERS Mika and Zoe plan to sell their home-made Christmas decorations ut
West Vancouver Community Centre's 20th annual Christmas Craft Market:
Sunday, Nov. 17. This year’s market has a room just for kids. For $15, children
under 12 can rent their own table. Tables must be booked before Thursday,”
Nov. 7. Phone 925-7270 for more information or to reserve a table.

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