Saturday December 7, 2019 ~ LANGFORD
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
The City of Langford’s Protective Services Committee met for one of their regular meetings on Tuesday November 26 in council chambers.
Chaired by Councillor Lillian Szpak, the Protective Services Committee usually hears one guest presentation and goes through a series of reports (verbal discussion supported by written reports) by West Shore RCMP, Langford Fire Rescue, Pacific Centre Family Services, and other recognized bodies.
An event called ‘Coldest Night of the Year’ which has been organized to support the needs of homeless people was outlined by a rep. The event is set for February 22, 2020 involving walks of various distances. The registration fee to participate is part of the fundraising. Anyone who raises over $150 will have their $25 registration fee waived. Szpak suggested the walk be in a well lit urban location, and noted that the event is being promoted and supported by the West Shore Chamber of Commerce. A motion requesting funds from Langford Council was deferred to Council, so that all groups requesting funding get a fair shot.
The West Shore RCMP report by Staff Sgt. Raj Sandhu included a comparison of statistics about the number of calls for service. The volume of calls is increasing, going up 19% year to date in 2019 compared to 2018, said Sandhu. The incoming call volume is up 25%. He said that shifts have been adjusted for the four new officers for more efficiency during the busiest time of 9 am to 6 pm, and Saturday nights. The West Shore RCMP detachment will be adding two phones at the front counter with a direct link to EComm (911). There have been shooting investigations this year. The bicycle unit has made several arrests including of one offender who “had been evading police for some time” with seven outstanding warrants. The incident at the McDonalds on Langford Parkway involving a youth recently resulted in over $3,000 in damages. Some Grade 9 students were toured through the detachment this fall and heard presentations about how policing works. The organized crime group that operates out of a location on Spencer Road continues to be monitored by RCMP, said S/Sgt Sandhu.
Within the policing discussion, Councillor Lillian Szpak noted that it is many times “hard to get anyone to press charges” in cases of domestic violence. She said that “sufficient evidence for prosecution is always the goal”. She said that “people change their stories or are not cooperative”, adding that “women are frightened of the repercussions of speaking up and align themselves with the abuser”.
A presentation was heard from the medical director and an administrator of the Westshore AVI Health Clinic which has been operating for just over two years on Jacklin Road in central Langford (as a locational alternative for people who couldn’t get to services in downtown Victoria). “We are the only centre of our kind,” said Dr Randall Mason, medical director, AVI. The centre addresses bio-psycho-social aspects of addiction, with a team-based approach of care. There is no charge for services, which one Protective Services Committee member suggested could be changed a bit, with people who can afford the service being asked to make some kind of financial contribution. The center provides appropriate support for people with AIDS and substance abuse. The committee heard that the south island area has one of the highest rates of illicit drug overdose deaths, the rates for which went up exponentially starting in 2013. “Now we have less deaths but just as many people suffering with lifelong medical issues,” said Dr Mason. Seventy percent of patients are men, many of them in the trades, ages 30 to 49; many of them don’t have a family doctor. Councillor Szpak says the City of Langford gives a tax exemption to the AVI centre, to help out with costs.
Langford Fire Chief Chris Aubrey reported to the committee. One of his highlights was about restructuring the department for more resiliency. That includes the development of a community wildfire interface plan (a meeting coming up December 10 about that), and expanding training opportunities in January 2020 to learn about handling structure fires (together with Colwood and View Royal fire departments). Aubrey took part in a joint education exercise by Royal Roads University (RRU) with SD62 high school students about community wildfire interface on November 15.
Chief Aubrey reported that the public Halloween events at the three fire halls went through 3,300 hot dogs and Fire Hall #2 ran out of supplies. Aubrey was one of the firefighters at Fire Hall #1 that night. “It was good to see community support. Next year we will get a live band for Fire Hall #1!,” he said, adding that the events are a good way to get to know their community better. “We are doing our best to manage as the community grows — the population is increasing quite rapidly,” said Chief Aubrey.
Chief Aubrey noted that today’s fires burn faster due to modern materials in homes and buildings; in that context Langford Fire has safer equipment for firefighters. The fire department is doing a pilot project regarding the growing number of 12-storey wood frame buildings in Langford made of compressed lumber (compared to the many 6-storey-high buildings that are made with 2×4’s). CREST got new radios this year as the old ones were failing — some testing of the emergency system upgrade will be done in the west shore shore, said Chief Aubrey
The Protective Services committee meets a few times each year, reporting to and forwarding any recommendations to Council. www.langford.ca