TRI-CITIES
FRIDAY
OCTOBER 31, 2014
medical marijuana dispensary in Port Moody
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thenownews.com
THE NOW
POT PLAN Local group wants to open a
HAUNTED HOUSES Looking for a special spot to take
the kids trick-or-treating? Visit us online to learn about six Tri-Cities homes worth a visit
Serving COQUITLAM, PORT COQUITLAM, PORT MOODY, ANMORE and BELCARRA since 1984
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Vote in our Facebook burger poll PICK YOUR FAVOURITE, DESIGNED BY THESE CANDIDATES, AND ENTER TO WIN A GIFT CARD which hover around 20 per cent for civic elections in the Tri-Cities. With that in mind, we’re trying something different this campaign to increase interest — a fun burger poll involving the top mayoral can-
Are civic elections dull? We don’t think so — most of us here at the paper are political junkies — but apparently, a lot of people do. That’s the only conclusion we can draw from voter turnout rates,
didates in each community. We asked the leading two in Coquitlam, Port Moody and PoCo (where Eric Hirvonen declined) to design a burger based on an ingredient list supplied by Roo’s Pub.
Roo’s created the burgers, and has added them to its menu. You can drop by the pub, at 2962 Christmas Way in Coquitlam, to register your vote by ordering a burger, or you can visit us on Facebook,
at Facebook.com/TheTriCitiesNOW, and like our page to vote virtually. If you do, you’ll be entered to win one of four $25 gift certificates for Roo’s. For all the details, see our burger poll ad on Page 6.
Police want mental-health officer Jeremy DEUTSCH
jdeutsch@thenownews.com It started for Port Moody police as a call back in 2004 by a concerned resident reporting a man sleeping by the side of the road. The man, referred to as Kevin, was sleeping on the road because he had just been kicked out of his house. He was 20 when he first became homeless. The officer that evening
told Kevin he couldn’t sleep on the side of the road, but neither knew where he was supposed to go. Const. Angela Fisher first met Kevin in 2006 after a resident complained that he was talking to himself, swearing and aggressively panhandling. He had soiled his clothing and smelled of urine and feces. She found Kevin with rot-
ten meat in his bag, which he said was his food for the day. Fisher knew Kevin was suffering from a mental illness, but due to a lack of resources, had no solution. After tossing the meat away, she told him he had to move on, but neither knew where he was supposed to go. Eventually, Kevin would accumulate 2,058 calls for service from several depart-
ments in the area over a 10year-span, including 417 in 2012 alone. At one point, police were getting up to 10 calls a day related to Kevin. His troubling story is told in a detailed report from the Port Moody Police Department, authored by Fisher, as part of a pitch to create a mental health officer (MHO) position in the city. The idea is for an officer to
take the lead in responding to and following up on mentalhealth related calls for the department. Specifically, the officer would liaise on cases with agencies like Fraser Health, local hospitals, Tri-Cities Mental Health, Crown counsel and the Ministry of Children and Families. The department plans to model the position — which would be staffed by a first-
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class constable at a salary of $86,000 plus some additional costs — after similar programs in New Westminster and Delta. The department is one of the few forces in Metro Vancouver that doesn’t have a mental-health officer. Insp. Ian MacDonald, the officer in charge of operations with the Port Moody Police Department, explained there CONT. ON PAGE 5
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