Good Neighbours: Victoria police eye holiday crime

Jeff Bell / Times Colonist
December 16, 2012

Three-year-old Kaylee Lovallo and her mom, Helen Lovallo, admire the gingerbread houses at Inn at Laurel Point on Saturday. The fourth annual gingerbread event at the Inn at Laurel Point, called Canadaês International Gingerbread Showcase, is made up of 27 creations that will be in place in the front lobby until Jan. 1., from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. Members of the public can vote for their favourites and also leave a donation for Habitat for Humanity. The $5,000 raised last year has already been surpassed. The impressive gingerbreads have also been a big hit online, especially the gingerbread chateau made by Ryan Timothy Townsend, which has landed on such websites as ABC News, the Argentina Star, the Cambodian Times and many more.

The Victoria Police Department continues to go mobile to get its crime-prevention message to the public.

In the past few weeks, reserve officers and volunteers have been hitting the road and setting up shop in the middle of holiday shopping — first downtown on Broad Street and most recently on Friday in the Esquimalt Plaza. The crew is based in an unmarked black van, and tries to educate the public on methods of keeping criminals at bay.

Theft from autos is a major topic, since some people have an unfortunate tendency of leaving Christmas purchases lying in plain view inside their cars. Keeping valuables in a secure spot is vital, said Victoria police Sgt. Mike Russell.

The mobile program is new and has proved to be popular with shoppers, Russell said, and hundreds of informational items have already been handed out.

Also on Friday, senior Victoria police officers volunteered as servers at the annual Seniors’ Christmas Lunch, held next door to the plaza at the Archie Browning Sports Centre. Staff from Esquimalt Parks and Recreation served food, as well.

Another step toward helping the public steer clear of crime is a newly minted redesign of the Victoria police website, vicpd.ca.

“The real push is to be way more interactive with it, and to be able to have much more open lines of communication,” Russell said. “You can report things, and we have our videos up for people to stay informed with our crimeprevention messaging.

“Everything is revolving around the fact that we’ve now combined public affairs and crime-prevention services.”

Russell said that users of the site can track crime and can also sign up for mobile-phone alerts about crime in their neighbourhoods.

Cost of the website changes was about $15,700.

Guess who will be driving Santa bus

Santa Claus takes a break from his Christmas preparations on Wednesday to hit the streets of Victoria.

For the 26th straight year, he will be behind the wheel of the Santa Bus. Mrs. Claus and one of the elves will be along for the ride, handing out candy canes and stickers while holiday music is played.

As always, the front of the bus will be decorated with antlers and a red nose. It will run from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., starting with the 11 route in the morning and then switching to the 4 in the afternoon.

Fix-A-Heart drive at Canadian Tire

The Victoria Hospitals Foundation and Canadian Tire are teaming up for the Fix-A-Heart campaign again this year.

From now until Dec. 24, shoppers can donate $2 at the till at Canadian Tire’s Douglas Street, View Royal, Royal Oak and Gordon Head locations. All donations will go to heart programs at Royal Jubilee Hospital.

The campaign has raised $500,000 since it began in 2003. Last year it brought in $57,400 that supported critical-care beds in the cardiac unit.

Money from the Fix-A-Heart program has also helped with the purchase of treadmills and defibrillators.

Esquimalt Kiwanis notes anniversaries

As Esquimalt’s centennial draws to a close, the Kiwanis Club of Esquimalt is offering its congratulations to the municipality for a year of celebrations that also held major significance for Kiwanis members.

While Esquimalt was turning 100, the long-serving community group marked its 35th anniversary in 2012, said club member Dodie Negrich. A total of 19 members kept busy with a variety of fundraising efforts and an eye to helping children’s charities in particular.

None of what the club does would be possible without the support of the municipality and businesses like Country Grocer, Negrich said.

In recent years, money raised has gone toward such causes as Jeneece Place ($10,000), a pair of specialized aquatic chairs ($5,000) to help people with disabilities access the Esquimalt Recreation Centre pool and playground equipment at Macaulay Elementary School ($2,000).

“The Kiwanis motto is ‘;Serving the children of the world,’ ” Negrich said.

Social services and health-related causes are also important to the club, she said.

Anyone interested in joining is invited to call Negrich at 250-380-4092.

Sex workers’ rights subject of march

Red umbrellas will be out in force Monday during a candlelight march at the legislature.

The gathering will signal Dec. 17 as the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, which is also called Red Umbrella Day. Red umbrellas have become a symbol of the rights of sex workers.

Organizing the march are the PEERS Victoria Resource Society, which helps past and current sex workers, and the University of Victoria Students’ Society’s Women’s Centre.

The event has been held for the past five years. Participants should meet at the legislature at 4 p.m. in preparation for a march to Government and Discovery streets.

For more information, call 250-721-8353.