POT, ROAD DEATHS KEPT POLICE BUSY

Road safety, marijuana grow operations and shootings dominated headlines in
the Tri-Cities this year.

Despite police issuing pleas to pedestrians to cross in crosswalks and wear
brightly-coloured clothing, nine pedestrians died while crossing roads - a
record high - including a Riverside secondary school student who was struck
and killed while crossing Como Lake Avenue in Coquitlam. Her death prompted
city council to make changes to traffic flows in the area.

Pot farms got tackled by Coquitlam RCMP's new Marijuana Enforcement Team,
formed in mid-September; to date, MET has dismantled 30 grow-ops in
Coquitlam and PoCo.

The operations were largely run by Vietnamese drug rings, police said, many
of them in expensive Westwood Plateau homes. In March, Mayor Jon Kingsbury
urged Coquitlam residents to "get to know your neighbour" during a meeting
organized by the Westwood Plateau Community Association in an attempt to
reduce the number of pot farms.

Port Moody Police continued with their drive to dismantle grow ops, many in
upscale Heritage Mountain homes.

Guns were also prominent in 2004, with more shootings than in previous
years. In December alone, police responded to a drive-by shooting in PoMo,
a shooting in Citadel Heights in PoCo, a 17-year-old boy shot in a
drug-related trade in PoCo, and two Coquitlam Mounties being shot at by an
alleged toy store robber after a chase across the Port Mann bridge into
Surrey. Police also were also involved in a dramatic shoot-out on Lougheed
Highway in PoCo in August after a man tried to kidnap his ex-girlfriend and
shot at her on Heritage Mountain Boulevard. He was killed after an exchange
of bullets with cops.

A gun also was used in the murder of a Coquitlam woman in August when her
ex-husband allegedly shot her to death at her Smith Avenue home. The
preliminary hearing for Miroslav Neumann, 62, continues next month.

In another violent attack, a man's throat was cut by another patron during
a fight at the Cat and Fiddle Pub in PoCo. Michael Donald, 40, has been
charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and assault in connection
with the incident.

In a case that hangs over the community, PoCo's Robert Pickton stands
charged with 15 counts of first-degree murder in connection with the
missing women's case, though there have been delays in the court case
because of the investigations. Meanwhile, his trial date is expected to be
set next year. Pickton has been at North Fraser Pre-trial Centre in PoCo
since being arrested in 2002.

In court news, a charge of assault with a weapon against a Coquitlam
Mountie was stayed after a provincial court judge ruled his right to have a
trial within a reasonable time was breached; Cpl. Russell Hannibal now
faces eight internal charges under the RCMP Act.