Diminutive drama page 34
Surrey goalie blanks Eagles page 30
Thursday December 20, 2012
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Few mayors back fresh push for a regional police force
Natasha Warren and a supporter leave Surrey Provincial Court. Warren will be sentenced in the death of Kassandra Kaulius on Dec. 28. Below are Kassandra’s parents Markita and Victor Kaulius.
Dianne Watts wants reform of integrated units by Jeff Nagel SOME METRO Vancouver mayors
say they’d welcome reform of regional police services but few are endorsing the idea of fully switching to a regional force from the current patchwork of municipal police and RCMP detachments. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson issued a statement supporting Missing Women Inquiry commissioner Wally Oppal’s call Monday for a regional force (see story, page 17), saying it’s “crucial” to improving public safety and policing in the region. Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, however, wants to improve the Dianne Watts current system of integrated policing units that pool resources across the region, adding that could go as far as a regional services force, but not at the expense of independent local control. “If you solely go to a regional force, what happens is all the police are pulled out of a variety of communities to deal with an issue,” Watts said. “You’re leaving your community very scantily policed.”
EDITION
See VICTORIA / Page 3
EVAN SEAL THE LEADER
‘I would trade places with her,’ killer driver tells court
Natasha Warren to be sentenced after Christmas in death of Kassandra Kaulius by Sheila Reynolds THE WOMAN who was drunk at the wheel of the van that sped through a red light and crashed into Surrey’s Kassandra Kaulius last year apologized in court Tuesday morning, saying words couldn’t express how sorry she was for causing the 22-year-old’s death. “If I could take it back, I would trade places with her in a second,” said Natasha Warren, 35, facing the judge in Surrey Provincial Court. “Please don’t drink and drive,” she said, vowing to speak to youth about her experience. “It hurts so many people.”
Tuesday was the second day of Warren’s sentencing hearing. In July, she pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death, impaired driving causing death, and failure to stop at an accident causing bodily harm. The Crown is seeking a three-and-a-halfyear federal jail term, plus a five-year driving prohibition after her sentence concludes. The defence wants a jail sentence of just over two years (25 months), plus a five-year driving ban. On Monday, the courtroom was highly emotional as members of the Kaulius family read victim impact statements throughout the day. See TEXT MESSAGE / Page 3
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