Pubdate: Fri, 18 Nov 2005
Source: Peace Arch News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Peace Arch News
Contact:  http://www.peacearchnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1333
Author: Tracy Holmes
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?216 (CN Police)

MOUNTIES CRAFT CRACK ERT CREW

Lower Mainland Detachments Pitch in to Fund, Staff Full-Time
SWAT

An integrated emergency response team set to launch in April is
getting high marks from White Rock's top cop.

Staff Sgt. Tom Forster said the dedicated unit - available 24 hours a
day, seven days a week - will improve safety for general duty Mounties
by ensuring elite officers are available for high-risk arrests -
something White Rock is seeing more and more of.

"It's going to be a lot better for us. It's going to be safer for a
lot of reasons," Forster said.

"There's a lot more variety of dangerous situations. The amount of
shootings we're getting in the Lower Mainland... people whacked out on
crystal meth... it's staggering."

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Al Macintyre told Maple Ridge city council
recently Mounties want to duplicate the success of the force's
Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, with a full-time emergency
response squad that can get to standoffs, drug raids or terror threats
in minutes.

"The streets are getting meaner. There are no two ways about it,"
Macintyre said.

He cited an increase in guns coming across the border as trade for
marijuana, and noted the last 61 killings of Indo-Canadian gang
members on the Lower Mainland involved firearms.

Forster said gun-related incidents are on the rise even in placid
White Rock, with three this year, most recently Oct. 22, when police
seized a 9mm pistol from a man near White Rock Pier.

Many detachments do not have the training or equipment to handle those
situations.

The RCMP's existing ERT is composed of 25 members from various Lower
Mainland detachments, including South Surrey, and is called out as
needed.

Twenty-five years ago, such a team responded to only two or three
standoffs or domestic disputes. Today, the squad deals with up to 60
scenarios, from drug raids to gang wars.

However, in its current state, there's no guarantee the specialized
weapons and tactics members can respond to an emergency.

Insp. Dave Debolt cited a recent incident where only two of 25 ERT
members answered a page. That's compounded by the fact it can take an
ERT up to 90 minutes to get on-scene.

Debolt questioned the impact that could have if an incident requiring
elite aremed response took place at Vancouver International Airport,
or on the West Coast Express.

"How do we get on it?" he asked.

Forster said a crack regional squad could be on-site within 15
minutes. Until they arrive, detachment officers contain the scene.

"We provide some assistance, but it becomes their show. Our role is
going to be to stand by and wait for these guys to come in," he said.

Municipalities which use the RCMP would pay half the cost of staffing
a full-time, regional ERT, with provincial and federal governments
covering the balance.

White Rock's annual tab will be $22,000 - money well-spent, Forster
said.

"That's cheap. The whole issue about officer safety, it's very
paramount right now. Why not use people who have enhanced amounts of
knowledge (and training)?" he said.

The national training standard for such teams is 65 to 85 days a year.
The existing team trains twice a month.

Macintyre said IHIT, formed two years ago, has become a hit around
North America, solving up to 70 per cent of crimes, compared to the
average 40 per cent.

Surrey pays $2 million of that team's annual $9 million budget. White
Rock chips in $80,000 annually. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake