BUSINESS: Care home promotes quality of life /A8 ARTS: Film fest takes viewers around the world /A10 SPORTS: Indoor season starts for Vikes /A14
More consultation sought in B.C. liquor licensing Page A3
VICTORIANEWS VICTORIA Wednesday, January 16, 2013
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White Heather TEA ROOM
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250 595 8020 1885 Oak Bay Ave Hours: Tues-Sat 10am-5pm
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Chief makes plea for regional police force Jamie Graham says Greater Victoria taxpayers would get better value for money with unified police force Daniel Palmer News staff
Victoria’s top cop is hoping a series of public talks will drum up support for a single regional police force. Chief Const. Jamie Graham used a James Bay Neighbourhood Association meeting to illustrate the difficulty of running a 245-member department with the highest case load per officer in Canada. “We suffer from a core city phenomenon,” Graham told the crowd of about 40 people at the New Horizons building Jan. 9. The discussion was part of Graham’s annual offer to speak at each community association in Victoria. The downtown population can swell to 250,000 during large events, and the roughly 400 protests that take place at the legislature and elsewhere in Victoria fall on VicPD shoulders, he added. “A common sense examination of the patchwork quilt of police departments in this region suggests there may be a better alternative, and the people I talk to tend to agree,” Graham told the News. “But there are different views and we respect them.” Graham also referenced the Oppal Report, a judicial inquiry into the Robert Pickton case that cites the Lower Mainland and Capital Region as being the only two metropolitan areas in Canada with fragmented police forces. “There’s no doubt that, should resources have been regionalized, (Pickton) would have been caught sooner,” he said. Graham hopes to eventually see one municipal force from North Saanich to Victoria, and from Oak Bay to the West Shore. In the shortterm, he hopes a regional communications centre can be established, but admits it’s a “tough sell.” Police board member Roy Cullen, who accompanied Graham, told the crowd that policing amalgamation is a question of political will, and said the Ministry of Justice will play a key role if any changes take place. PLEASE SEE: Lessons to be learned from Halifax, Page A19
Sharon Tiffin/News staff
Can spring be far behind? Abkhazi Gardens head gardener Jeff De Jong shows off blooming snowdrops. Most snowdrops flower in winter before the spring equinox. However, many consider the plants flowering a sure sign spring is around the corner. We can only hope. Abkhazi Gardens are open to visitors Monday to Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., in Fairfield.
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