RCMP OFFICERS DOING GREAT JOB

Editor, The News:

I just wanted to say a big thank-you to Ridge Meadows RCMP for their
recent shut down of another five marijuana grow-ops within the Pitt
Meadows-Maple Ridge Area on April 27th.

Reports have suggested that many motorists driving by some of these
raids/take-downs were showing their appreciation too by giving the
"thumbs-up" to the police as these operations were being shut down
and dismantled. Sadly, it is now commonplace to see these grow-ops
smack in the middle of residential neighborhoods.

With theft of electricity usually being found in almost all of these
illegal operations, one cannot argue that these things are extremely
dangerous and that the potential for property damage and human
casualty or fatalities is all too real.

In addition, the danger to the officers entering these things is also
very real with many being found with various weapons and booby traps inside.

The local police here and Maple Ridge, and for that matter, other
communities, are active almost everyday going after these grow-ops
and shutting them down. To hear about residents honking horns, waving
and giving a thumbs-up shows these officers that they are doing a
great job and that the thank-you they don't always hear, in what may
seem to many a thankless job, sometimes is most appreciated on their end.

I applaud these officers doing their part in keeping this community a
little safer.

Wade Perry

Maple Ridge