CALL TO ARM SKYTRAIN COPS

Report Says They Need Weapons To Fight The Drug Trade

SkyTrain needs special armed cops to battle the growing drug trade, says a
report released yesterday.

And Attorney-General Ujjal Dosanjh, who released the report, said he'll go
along with it if that's what the people want.

The report says the unarmed SkyTrain security guards now in place are
powerless to deal with the mushrooming drug trade.

"A consistent complaint of the public and SkyTrain passengers is the level
of drug trafficking which operates by and large unchecked at stations,"
says the report by the Justice Institute of B.C., the provincial police
services division and retired Vancouver deputy police chief Ken Higgins.

"A large number of people use this transit system and have few physical
barriers between them and 'undesirables.' The fact that TransLink security
is not empowered to fight drug crime adds to the public's sense that
SkyTrain is a dangerous place to be."

A special corps of armed transit cops in Vancouver would likely be a first
for Canada.

No armed guards patrol the transit systems in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto,
Ottawa or Montreal. Those cities, like Vancouver, summon their police
departments to deal with specific serious offenders.

TransLink rates the four worst SkyTrain stations for drug dealing as:

- - Metrotown

- - Broadway

- - Surrey Central

- - New Westminster

The speed with which criminals can escape from authorities by boarding the
train has earned it the moniker CrimeTrain.

The report says criminals can also move their operations if one community
decides to crack down on drugs, as New Westminster and other communities
have tried with mixed success.

"The most pressing law enforcement need on the SkyTrain is drug
enforcement," it states. "When a single jurisdiction tackles the problem,
it merely shifts along the line."

Dosanjh said armed police will be dispatched if that's the request of
municipalities, police and SkyTrain.

"I think the thrust of the report is there needs to be a dedicated unit
policing SkyTrain," he said.

Liberal leader Gordon Campbell questioned the need for another police unit.

"I don't think that we should create a new bureaucracy," he said. "I would
only support that if the local police chiefs support that."

There are now 42 SkyTrain security guards. The report says the new unit
might concentrate on serious crime, while regular security guards could
deal with the relatively minor incidents of fare evasion.

"The public and offenders seem to react more co-operatively to full police
constables," it states. "It is open to further research, however, whether a
complement of 42 peace officers is required for this duty, and whether
other members of TransLink security could be involved with fare enforcement."

In Montreal last summer transit guards asked to be allowed to carry pepper
spray, but were turned down.

Critics said that equipping transit officers with firearms would be asking
for bloodshed - and not just of suspects - on the city's trains and
stations.