SKYTRAIN TO GET MORE POLICING

But an NDP plan for a special transit unit is expected to be scrapped

VICTORIA -- SkyTrain will soon get increased policing to crack down on drug
dealers and other crime, Solicitor General Rich Coleman said this week.

But a plan by the former NDP provincial government to create a special
force -- announced more than a year ago but never implemented -- appears to
be dead.

Coleman said SkyTrain policing is under review by the Liberal government
and a decision on how to improve it should be made once the legislative
session is over.

"We're going to work on this in the next few weeks," he said

The plan to create a new police unit appears unlikely to survive the
review. Coleman said the crime problem on the SkyTrain corridor is less
serious than expected.

"Criminal Code offences on the SkyTrain aren't at the level that was
originally anticipated," Coleman said.

The proposal to create a new police unit was announced in July 2000 by the
attorney-general's ministry.

It was to have been made up of members of the RCMP, officers seconded from
municipal police forces and the regional transportation authority's own
security force.

The NDP government never acted on the promise.

Police have since expressed concern about the potential communication
problems if another separate force is set up within the four Lower Mainland
communities that are home to SkyTrain, Coleman said.

He discussed the SkyTrain issue in a meeting Thursday with RCMP E Division
head Beverly Busson.

"There is some preference out there that if there's going to be a
relationship that SkyTrain would basically fund additional officers along
the line to the local police agencies," he said.

TransLink, the regional transportation authority, which is facing a
financial crisis, also has concerns about the costs of any policing solution.

Coleman said the government would also look at the option of expanding the
special constable powers of SkyTrain security officers to allow them a
broader policing role.

Coleman said enough information is available to allow a decision after
discussions with police, SkyTrain and others affected.

The NDP announced the special police force last year after a study of crime
on the SkyTrain line.

Vancouver and New Westminster police, along with Burnaby and Surrey RCMP,
jointly endorsed the objective. But despite promises of action by year-end,
the new force never got off the drawing board.

SkyTrain passes through four municipalities, with 20 stations along 30
kilometres of track.

The area served will include Port Moody and Coquitlam when the rapid
transit line is extended. About 40 special officers patrol the system.

Burnaby-Willingdon MLA John Nuraney raised the issue in the legislature
this week, noting that people in his community are concerned about mobile
criminals who use SkyTrain.

Nuraney said the lack of policing on SkyTrain has made it a magnet for
criminals.

A one-month police operation last year targeting SkyTrain stations resulted
in 157 people being arrested on drug trafficking charges.

Vancouver police Chief Terry Blythe said problems around SkyTrain stations
were "horrific."

New Westminster said its two urban SkyTrain stations last year cost
$500,000 to police.