ier busiest t

ime for

Approx. 15 officers, 11 cars assigned to police North Van streets each shift

IN ITS continuing series profiling
the «vo North Shore police
departments, the North Shore
News takes a look at the wpera-
tions of the North Vancouver
RCMP’s patrol section.

By Surj Rattan

News Reporter

THE LARGEST manhunt. ever
conducted by the North Van-
couver RCMP took place last year
on the weekend of July 13 when
the police used helicopters and
dogs to hunt for convicted rapist
David Alexander Snow.

He was last seen in the Mount
Seymour area near the Baden-
Powell Trail, which is the area the
Mounties focused their search on.

As the search continued into the

early hours of Sunday, July 14,

Const. Peter Cross was on routine
patrol on the other side of North
Vancouver in the Capilano area,
i While he was aware of the hunt
for Snow by his colleagues, he
never expected to play a vital role
in the kidnapper’s capture.

At around 4 a.m. two silent
alarm calls were received from the
Capilano area, one from the
Bridge House restaurant on
Capilano Road.

Cross decided to investigate.

““Snow was my capture. You

. don’t run across that very often.
We had two alarm calls at the
same time, and I decided 10 go to
the Bridge House. In fact, | drove
by the first call.

“The alarm for the Bridge
House was cancelled as soon as |
got there, but I thought that since
I'm here, I may as well have a
look around,’’ said Cross.

NORTH VANCOUVER RCMP Const. Peter Cross (centre) investigates a two-car motor vehicle acci-

dent at 15th Street and Grand Soulevard.

When he started to look around
the outside of the restaurant, he
found Snow standing over a fe-
male employee of the restaurant,

“The individual standing , over
what appeared to be a body had
his hands around her neck. She
was in a face-down position with
a plastic bag over her head,”
Cress would later testify in Snow's
trial.

“Arts grants taken
away from groups
not located locally

ARTS ASSISTANCE grants previously approved by

the tri-municipal North Shore Arts Commission have

been, re-evaluated because of reluctance’ by North
> Vancouver City and West Vancouver District to: fund
arts organizations not located on the North Shore.

As a result of July meetings
between the arts commission
executive and its three council
representatives several Lower
Mainland arts organizations
have lost grants approved by
the arts commission jury and
ratified in June by the com-
mission itself.

These include:

@ Canadian Craft
$1,620;

© Carousel
$1,620;

@ Vancouver Opera, $3,420;

@ Vancouver Playhouse
Theatre Company, $3,420;

® Vancouver Youth Symphony
Orchestra, $1,800.

The criteria for approving
these grants, previously. agreed
to by all three councils, were
that these organizations offered
a service to the North Shore
not provided by North Shore-
based arts groups.

An additional grant of
$2,000 was approved for the
Vancouver International
Writers (and Readers) Festival
to produce two events at
Presentation House.

Meanwhile the Vancouver
Opera will be encouraged to
apply for support directly to
the three North Shore
municipalities.

. Monies not disbursed from
the. available 1993 total of
$68,570 (based an 45-cents ps

Museum,

Theatre Society,

By Martin Millerchip:
and Stephen Wisenthal

capita) will be retained by the
municipalities, but committed
for arts grant allocation by a
yet to be determined procedure.

Meanwhile councillors at
North Vancouver City voted
Monday six to one in favor of
the local-groups-only arts
assistance grants policy.

But Coun. Rod Clark, who
opposed the motion, said that
since people from the North
Shore attend arts events:
downtown, the three
municipalities should contribute
to Greater Vancouver arts
groups.

“How do we. decide what
groups are more deserving than
others?”’ he said.

But other councillors said
regional arts groups should
turn to the Greater Vanccuver
Regional District for funding.

Said Coun. Barbara Perrault,
“The purpose of these grants is
to provide funding for emerg-
ing and amateur arts groups.
My. feeling is that charity
begins at home.”

Coun. Barbara Sharp said it
was better to make a clear
decision about funding rather
than “chip, chip, chip away”
at municipal services,

“ET pulled my handgun and

pointed it at the individual and

you

shouted: ‘Police, freeze.

But Snow’s capture was not the
first major arrest Cross, a 16-year
veteran of the RCMP, has been
involved in.

Shortly after joining the RCMP,
Cross arrested serial killer Allan
Legere in New Castle, New
Brunswick,

NEWS photo Mike Wakelield

“The case | had with Legere
was that he had cut the head off a
body and put it on a doorstep.
He's a scary guy. | was: the only
junior (RCMP) member at the
time and | had to go pick up this
head.

“He pul it on the wrong door
step, too,"’ recalled Crass,

Married with two. children,
Cross is one of the 148 police of-

MOSQUITO CREEK PARK

lake it you

NV RCMP

o North Vancouver RCMP
detachment established Aug.
15, 1950;
@ Detuchment was originally
located at 209 West Fourth
(5
@ Detachment’s first of-
fices-in-ckarge was Staff Sgt.
G. McAndrews;
@ Detachinent originally con-
sisted of one staff sergeant,
three corporals, 17 constables;
@ Detachment today includes
148 members.

ficers who make up the RCMP’s
North Vancouver detachment. He
has been posted in North Van«
couver for eight years. Before be-
ing transferred to North Van-
couver, Cross was stationed in
Bella Bella.

On a night when Cross is ac-
companied by a News reporter,
the Pitt Meadows resident works a
12-hour shift from 6 p.m. Friday |
to 6 a.m, Saturday,

His marked police car is equip-
ped with a small computer. He
can push a button, and without
saying anything into his radio, the
dispatcher will know exactly what
his message is.

There are about 15 police of-
ficers working each. shift, with
between eight and 11 police cars
on the road.

Cross is assigned to the Lower
Lonsdale area of North Vancouver
City — City South.

See Worked page 5

r park,’ city

engineer tells resi

“WE ARE not trying to
jam the thing forward, but

we would like to get the.

basketball court construc-
tion done before the rainy
season starts.’’

By Martin Millerchip
Contributing Writer

North Vancouver City engineer
Chuck Gale’s remark got a damp
laugh from approximately 25 focal
residents huddled under a tent on
a wet night in Mosquito Creek
Park on Thursday.

But it was about the only laugh
of the evening as Gale and parks
planner Leesa Strimbicki worked
to keep the peace. between
neighbors who have clashed on
several occasions in the last few
months over the park’s develop-
ment.

A partially completed basketball
court has sat idle in the northeast
corner of Mosquito Creek Park
(located north of Larson Road
between Bewicke Avenue and Fell
Avenue) since the beginning of
April.

Council has heard submissions
from:
® those who fear the court will
become a‘place for youth to hang
out as opposed to play;

@ those who do not oppose the
court but say it is sited wrongly in
the park; .

@ those who oppose the con-
struction of a $150,000 washroom;
@ those who ‘see the court .as
another off-road play. opportunity
for children of all ages.

Council finally approved‘ com-

NEWS photo Paul McGrath

LOCAL RESIDENTS met with North Vancouver City engineer
Chuck Gale to discuss the completion of the half-finished

basketball court in Mosquito Creek Park.

pletion of the basketball court, its
lighting and surrounding plantings
and walkways on June 21.

It directed its parks staff ‘‘to
meet with residents to seek cre-
ative solutions which may alleviate
the concerns expressed by the resi-
dents.”

Thursday’s meeting was praised
by many of the residents who at-
tended as a good example of
public process, but local resident
Susan White pointed out that a
city mail-out publicizing the
meeting had the wrong date.

Others wondered aloud. why
such a meeting could not have
started the process. The felling of
four large poplars to make room
for the court instead alerted resi-
dents above the park to the immi-
nent development.

See Report page 5

Bi Business Briefs ......47
8 Cocktails & Caviar...283 -
Ei Crossword .... 34
B9 Editorial Page . .. &
8 Fashion ...... 43
a Horoscopes . 24
Sn 4
HE] Lifestyles ...........24
News of the Weird...24°
@ Travel .............25
Vintage Years ..... 22
i What’s Going On....47

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Monday, sunny, Highs 23°C,
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