LET'S GIVE SKYTRAIN POLICE A CHANCE TO PROVE THEIR WORTH

In an ideal world, B.C. citizens would abide by the law and behave
with civility, even under great personal stress, such as that
experienced sometimes while taking public transit.

Unfortunately, that is not always the case in the Lower Mainland,
where SkyTrain stations appear to have become a magnet for thieves,
drug dealers and other hoodlums.

This has resulted in a series of violent attacks, including one that
left a teenage boy dead, which have made some riders so fearful they
avoid taking public transit altogether.

Now, we have SkyTrain police armed with Glock handguns . . . and it
is the civil libertarians who are up in arms.

There are, of course, good arguments to be made on either side of this issue.

Like a number of Province readers, Burnaby's Laura Inglis supports
the idea of transit police carrying guns. "The only people who should
have a problem with this are those who are doing something wrong . .
. and that's the whole idea," she says.

But Coquitlam's Chris Nichols disagrees, saying it is only a matter
of time before "an innocent person is injured, violated or even
killed by the poor policing TransLink officers are certain to bring."

Obviously, we have more faith than Nichols in the training these
SkyTrain officers undergo.

Indeed, we believe that, given the current state of lawlessness in
our region, a strong, armed police presence is needed to help improve
the security of transit riders.