es February 12, 2003 Community a group call trains “conduits of crime” tem News the other press http://otherpress.douglas.be.ca Kevin Groves, British Columbia Bureau VANCOUVER (CUP)—East Vancouver community leaders are concerned for peo- ple’s safety around the Joyce Street SkyTrain Station in light of two recent purse snatchings in the area. Just after midnight on February 2, a 44- year-old female was knocked down and punched in the head after a man grabbed her purse near the Joyce Street SkyTrain Station, Vancouver Police spokeswoman Sarah Bloor announced Monday. Three days earlier, a 21-year-old woman was attacked near Joyce Street and Kingsway at 11:30p.m. by two men and one woman, who stole the victim's bag of beer, Bloor added. “These incidents are not new; we've had purse snatchings for years,” Bloor said. “But media and public attention is grow- ing on this issue.” That community attention is in part due to concerns that Vancouver's SkyTrain, a light-rail transit line that runs from down- town Vancouver to Surrey, is being used to ferry criminals into the area, said Chris Tualu, director of the Collingwood Community Policing Centre, which is near the Joyce Street SkyTrain Station. “Skytrains are conduits of crime [but] they're not crime-ridden because the indi- vidual will immediately get off the train and run down the street to rob someone,” executive East Vancouver Purse Snatchings Raise Safety Concerns in Lower Mainland Tualu said. “So TransLink can say it’s not their crime, because individuals are using it for arrival and the getaway.” Translink spokesman Ken Hardy simi- larly defended the company’s track record. He said out of about 46 million SkyTrain boardings in 2000, currently the most up- to-date statistics available, there were only 46 robberies in and around SkyTrain sta- tions. As for the purse snatchings around Joyce Street Station, Hardy said both incidents occurred well away from the station, beyond the purview of TransLink security. “For all we know, the perpetrators may have had absolutely no connection with Skytrain,” Hardy said. In addition, Hardy said there are about two-dozen Skytrain attendants and special constables who monitor the entire line at all times. They do not stay at a single sta- tion all shift. “But at Joyce Street Station at the times in question there could have been four to no security monitoring the area,” Hardy said. “But again, these incidents didn’t occur at the station or even near the station,” he added. In light of these purse snatchings, Tualu said her policing unit plans to conduct an education campaign designed to let the public know not to carry their money in their purses. “I mean, that’s’ the big thing,” Tualu said. “Hide your money on you. Younger ones can wear a fanny pack.” Purse snatchings have been on the rise in the Lower Mainland since December. On December 31, 2002, 69-year-old Elisa Khoe was walking along a Richmond street when an adult male suspect approached her from the rear, while riding a bicycle, and stole her purse. Khoe fell to the ground and struck her head on the sidewalk, resulting in serious head injuries. She passed away in hospital on January 2, 2003. Terri Fitzgibbon, a Richmond resident who knew Khoe, said she still has difficul- ty accepting Khoe’s death. “I couldn't believe it when I found out because only a half hour before [the purse snatching] I’d given her a big hug for New Years and we were going to meet three hours later at the dance at the Knights o Columbus at St. Paul’s,” Fitzgibbon said. “T didn’t go to the dance, but I teased her about how she was going to wear her glass slipper and dance the night away.” Fitzgibbon added that seniors would do well to buddy up when going outside in the Lower Mainland. “That's the best way to go,” she said. “Call a friend and go out walking, rather than going out by yourself.” Managing Editor and oversee all editorial issues. Opinions Editor Layout and graphics in each issue. The Editor will work closely with the section editors and proofreaders and act as a liaison between the collec- tive members. 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