STUDENTS: WE NEED MORE COPS

Pupils Assert They Want More Of A Say In Creating Gang
Policy

Students at Abbotsford Collegiate were calling for a beefed-up police
presence in their hallways during a meeting of the Abbotsford Police
board at the secondary school Tuesday afternoon.

Several youth were on hand for the meeting to query board members on
policy and what students could do to help law enforcement with issues
like gang recruitment among students.

That is a problem, according to a number of students on hand, that is
rampant in Abbotsford schools.

"If you can get a bunch of money for doing one little job, why
wouldn't you?" asked a young girl in attendance, who added that more
needs to be done to educate middle school students about the dangers
of drugs, crime and gangs.

She said youth are being lured into the lifestyle at a younger and
younger age.

"Don't try to fix the problem once it's already there. Deal with it
before it even comes up," she said.

Abbotsford School District spokesperson Dave Stephen said, "with the
events of the last year in our communities, obviously we're having to
invent some new ways of responding to threats that maybe weren't as
pronounced as they were a year or two ago."

While the students can ask for a police officer to be there every day,
it's just not possible said Stephen. "We just don't have the ability
to do that. We're being as realistic as we have the evidence to be."

Another student chimed in that it would be a good idea to get
proactive in schools. He cited conversations in class and in the
hallways about gang activity, drug sales and drug use.

"I think if adults would just open their ears and take the initiative
to listen maybe they could inform the police," he said.

One male student put it bluntly to the board when asked what more
could be done: "We need more policing in our schools . . . we need
police with us all the time, getting to know us, and us them."

He said having one officer assigned to liaise with students at two or
three schools was simply inadequate considering the scope of the problem.

"We need police here every day, [Const. Dan Baldinger] alone is not
enough."

Baldinger conceded that he wished he could be in schools more, but he
simply did not have the resources at his disposal for more face time.

"It's the problem in every city, every police department - having
enough members to do the job the way you want to do it . . . it still
comes down to dollars," he said.

"We're doing everything we can with the resources we have," adding he
wasn't surprised at how much students at the meeting knew about gangs
and crime. "The kids hear about it before we do."

One youth told the board by not having enough officers on school
grounds, the police were not getting the whole picture of how bad gang
activity at Abbotsford schools is.

The boy suggested a type of mentoring program, one where teachers who
overhear conversations that link students to high-risk activities
could pass the information to councillors, who could then intervene
without drawing unwanted attention to the students in question.

Police Chief Bob Rich said the students on hand had him taking
notes.

"I don't want to pretend for a second we've got this figured out, but
we are very much trying to figure out what we can do," he said.

When queried by board member Ron Price on whether it would be better
to have officers in plain clothes to make them more approachable, a
student replied with an emphatic, "No."

"It's better for police to be in full blues," the young man said, "If
you're not [at school] we can't build a relationship with you."