Thursday October 2, 2014 (Vol. 39 No. 79)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Family affair: Lifelong baseball fans, the father-son -son duo of Dean and Ellis are gettingg a rare chance to play together on the same field – and a Major-League ue quality field, at that. i see page 377
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Retiring Delta chief considers deputy city manager post, as he weighs in on Surrey’s crime debate
No-call-too-small ‘crucial’ for Surrey Kevin Diakiw Black Press
It’s just before midnight on Dec. 20, and what sounds like distant machine gun fire is hitting the side of a Clayton home. A glance outside reveals a couple of drunken teens pulling Christmas lights from the house. But a call to 911 is met with laughter. Lack of police response is a story heard often in Surrey, but in Delta – like in White
Rock, where they practise “no call is too small” policing – cops attend everything. Delta Police Chief Jim Cessford says it not only possible to implement the strategy in Surrey, it’s crucial. Cessford, who is retiring from Delta in February, is being eyed for a position as a senior crime-fighting boss in Surrey. One of his tasks would be bringing the Delta model here. Coun. Barinder Rasode, a Surrey mayoral
candidate, has been working with Cessford for months on a crime-fighting plan. She wants to create the position of director of public safety – a deputy city manager who would oversee police, fire, the legal department and bylaws. And she wants Cessford in the running. Rasode said she repeatedly hears from residents that they want a model of policing like Delta, where every call is attended by police. Can it be done in Surrey?
“Absolutely,” Cessford said in an exclusive interview with Black Press at Rasode’s ‘Community Hub’ in Newton on Monday. “That’s what they did in New York. They went right down to graffiti and fare evasion… they went right back to basic policing.” Cessford is not officially endorsing Rasode as a candidate. As a police chief, he said he can’t – and won’t – get into politics. i see page 4
Youths hurt in crash
Severe injuries as car sheared Sheila Reynolds Black Press
Tracy Holmes photo
White Rock council is being asked to consider renaming the 15200-block of Marine Drive – something with more meaning than ‘The Hump.’
‘Eagle Hill’ suggested for rise that divides waterfront business areas
Task force seeks to rename The Hump Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
An effort to rename the Marine Drive “hump” to something with more meaning has taken wing. “We’re ready for it to be something else… to be appreciated for what it is,” said Barry Belec, explaining a suggestion to formally tag the mound in the 15200-block of Marine Drive ‘Eagle Hill.’ “Eagle Hill tells people a little more than ‘The Hump.’”
Belec is a White Rock resident who sits on the city’s Centre Street Road Allowance Improvements Task Force. He said the mound of trees and shrubbery – including tall firs where bald eagles can often be seen perched or nesting – has been known as ‘The Hump’ for “years and years and years.” But it is so much more than the colloquial moniker suggests, Belec told Peace Arch News. “Whenever you see images taken from West Beach, (they) always involve beautiful presentations of greenery on The Hump,” he said.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
With an appropriate name, “it becomes something other than a blank unknown.” The renaming recommendation was presented at the task force’s Sept. 17 meeting. Receiving unanimous support at that level, it came before council this past Monday and was referred to staff for a report. Belec was among a number of people to make the renaming suggestion, many of whom had in mind last year’s toppling of four mature Douglas firs, he said. i see page 4
Police are appealing for witnesses in a crash that sent two teens and a child to hospital Sunday night. Surrey RCMP is investigating whether excessive speed was a factor in a collision that saw a grey Mazda nearly sheared in half after it slammed into a power pole on King George Boulevard near 64 Avenue at about 7:45 p.m. Sept. 28. As of Wednesday morning, a 17-year-old passenger was fighting for his life with severe brain injuries and a broken back, and the 18-yearold male driver was in serious condition with broken limbs. A 12-year-old boy, who was a passenger in the backseat, suffered minor injuries and was released from hospital. The car’s occupants were trapped inside the car for about half an hour while firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free them. Based on witness accounts, a pedestrian was crossing King George Boulevard from east to west just before the crash, and police want to speak with that person. Investigators are also asking to speak to the occupants of a black SUV that was driving alongside the car at the time of the collision. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.
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