THE flap created last

'. week when Attorney

General Ujjal Dosanjh
ordered the disarming
of the province’s volun-
" teer police auxiliaries
_, and reserves seems to
. be mired in confusion
and posturing which
virtually guarantees the
citizens of B.C. will be
_the big losers.
~The RCMP ausiliary and
* Vancouver city’s reserve pro-

grams beth began in the carly

-°70s, ostensibly to augment
the regular forces with volun-
teers to perform routine tasks
- frecing up officers for more
fhe wgent duties.
- During my time as a
“ poliec officer, I had occasion
to work with both forces and
their respective programs.
“Initially, reserve officers
id not carry firearms in spite
~—of the fact they were fre-
quently on duty with regular
in patrol situations:
n other words the were
placed in ‘*harm’s way” with-
out the protection 0} :
Sidearnis:,
Inthe mid- 80s the
AP armed the’ members
uxiliary program,
something thar ‘occurred in
fancouver. in the latter part
of the*70s.

crime and
punishment

It’s important to bear in
mind that the volunteer offi-
cers wear essentially the same
uniform as regular officers
with the exception of a small
shoulder flash below the main
crest indicating their reserve
or auxiliary status.

Both programs were
designed with a basic training
package and a spate of fol-
low-up training courses to
ensure the members were up
to daie with changes in the
law, policies and methods.

Conditional to remaining
in the program, once accept-
ed, was the proviso that cach
volunteer spend a minimum
number of shifts working
alongside regular officers,
taking calls and providing on
the-spot backup.

‘Dosanjh was quoted in
the Vancouver Sun as saving,
“these auxiliaries were never
intended to be out there with
guns. These people do a
tremendous amount of work

*~ and we value their contribu-

every other Saturday is off

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‘amous Players Theatre)

tion. Their main work is
community policing and |
hope they continue to do
thar.

But f wouldn't want a
police auxiliary confronted
with a dangerous situation
where we are putting them
and the public in harm’s
way.”

Once again, this attorney
general has demonstrated he
doesn’t know what he’s talk-
ing about.

Considering a condition
of their engagement required
they spend a specified mini-
mum amount of ume in
police cars on patrol, doesn’t
that by definition ensure they
are put “in harm’s way?”

Saying their main work is
community policing again
shows his lack of understand-
ing of what is going on in
policing today.

The community policing
concept we know today had

its genesis in the latter part of

the 1980s, It didn’t really
gain ary form of widespread
use and acceptance ungl the
early "90s, at least half a
decade after the RCMP aunil-
iarics were armed and more
than a decade following the
Vancouver Police
Department’s decision to

"Shawn Whittaker

allow their reserves to carry
firearms while on patrol with
regular members.

The upshot of the deci-
sion to disarm the auxiliaries
was the inevitable withdrawal
of their services,

Essentially, they are saying
they're barely distinguishable
from a regular officer.

When thcy perform their
functions they are on the
street engaged in a variety of
tasks, not too mention their
mandated shifts with patrol
officers.

They don’t believe violent
criminals will discriminate
between them and regular
officers because of a small
shoulder flash.

A reasonable argument.

While the AG’s officials
will be examining this whole
issuc, witha report duc by
September, Dosanjh seems to
have jumped the gun by
ordering the disarming. One
has to wonder why the deci-
sion was made in this knee-

jerk fashion prior to the study

being completed. It certainly
presupposes what the study
will find ar the very least. Or,
perhaps, more to the point, it
tells those conducting the
study what to find.

Equally, the political spin

AX

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" Wednesday, Apt: 22, 1998 — North Shore News - 7

AG fumbled auxiliary officer issue —

has jeft the public believing

the auniliaries have constant;
unimpeded access to firearms,
similar to that of a regular
officer. This is untruc.

A reserve or auxiliary off
cer is ‘ssued a weapon from a
secure, central storage locker
only when they are going on
the specific type of dary that
requires the carrying of a
sidearm.

The issuance of the
weapon is done by the
authoriry of the ranking,
supervisor on duty at the
time. Reserves cannot take a

gun whenever they want one.

Additionally, in VPD, the
guns provided are the .38
Special revolvers the new
automatic pistols replaced for
the regular officers. ;

This past weekend
Vancouver’s reserve. officers
refissed to do the traffic con-
trol duties they normally per-
form at the Vancouver Sun
Run and the weekend events
at GM Place.

This required the city to
pony up almost 550, 600 in
overtime costs ta ensure the
duties were covered.

This moncy did not come
out of a provincial fund in
spite of the fact it was the
AG’s decision to remove the

weapons, The money came

from the regular overtime
budget of the police depart:
ment. Now this is serious it
this situation continues for
much Jonger. The police. bud-
get has already been curtailed. .
asa result of the free- -spend-
ing going on ia Victoma,

Clearly, the management
of the various police agencivs~
cannot refuse to provide the
services the reserves did. To
continue to usc the overtime
budget to tund these activi-
ties will ensure the things the
budget was meant to pay for
will be severely limited.

When that happens the
basic service to the public will
have to be curtailed. This is
inevitable.

Once again, the public
will suffer. I'm not suggesting
everything should remain as
they have evolved over the
years. Certainly, same con-'
cerns relating to specific ..
duties and training needed 0.
be addressed.

But to make the decision
and announce it as done by
Dosanjh has accomplished
nothing positive.

‘Chalk up one more bone- |
head move to this gove crn
ment.

: — tk night @di érect.ca

RETURNS

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