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economist sunsuntribune police news saturday march 12 2005 by martin derbyshire staff writer news of suicide bombings and terrorist attacks make some think of israel as a war zone but york regional police chief armand la barge found a different reality on his trip to israel when you go into jerusalem despite the fact they deal with ter rorist attacks on a weekly or monthly basis life goes on as if everything was normal explained chief la barge who arrived in israel less than a week after a nightclub bombing in tel aviv they dont want to be paral ysed by fear and they dont want to allow the terrorist to rule their way of living part of the reason for the mis sion to israel organized by the ontario association of chiefs of police the province the canadian jewish congress ontario region and united jewish appeal federa tion of greater toronto was to learn how israeli law enforcement and the military deal with the con stant threat of terrorism while the chief saw experts in counter- terrorism do their jobs and was interested in a closed cir cuit camera system in the old city of jerusalem he was most impressed by how the entire com munity worked to maintain public safety it was amazing to see the part nerships that exist between police ambulance armed forces and bor der police but whats really inter esting is that there are 23000 police officers in israel and 23000 volunteers theyre similar to our auxiliary except they can carry firearms they dont have the power to arrest but they do have detention powers he said theres also private security who are licensed to be armed and their roles and responsibility are seen as being part of the commu nity so its not like theyre working for abc security company theyre actually working to protect the state and the citizens themselves making the community partly responsible for their own safety and protection is a great help to law enforcement chief la barge added it is community policing and they put a great deal of emphasis on that in an area where terrorism is a reality it is so critical that if you see something suspicious you call the police if you see something that just york regional chief armand la barge spends time with israeli officers at a juvenile correctional facility in northern israel march 2 during a fiveday ontario police chiefs mission to israel sponsored by uja federation of greater toronto canadian jewish congress el al israel airlines and the ontario asso ciation of chiefs of police the tour was cochaired by ontarios community safety and correctional ser vices minister monte kwinter chief la barge and cjc ontario region chairperson joel richler doesnt seem to fit you call police because you could be stopping a terrorist act or a suicide bomber he said york region has the third largest jewish population in canada and chief la barge said he has returned from israel with a greater appreciation for their commitment to the country i think it gave us some sense as to how something happening in the west bank or gaza or ramallah can have an impact on our jewish community back here in york region he said and it does have significant impact chief la barge has always been committed to stamping out anti- semitism racism and hate crimes but a visit to the yadvashem holo caust memorial museum gave him even more insight on how even the smallest act of antisemitism con cerns the entire jewish community you see why they become so concerned about an act of anti- semitism because theyve seen the murder of six million jews and it started with things like that he said the approach is never again the delegation met with the survivor of a suicide bombing and a terrorist attack attended lectures on the state of politics in the area and met with palestinian authori ties giving them a true window on the troubled area and the current road map to peace in the middle east there is a high level optimism on the israeli side a little less from palestinians but there seems to be true commitment right now so were hopeful we will see some peace in that area soon he said in brief students celebrate elimination of discrimination more than 500 people are expected to celebrate markhams international day for the elimina tion of racial discrimination at mil- liken mills high school on march 20 from noon to 5 pm food cultural performances and display booths are part of the event the event is an opportunity for community partners to come together to reaffirm our commit ment to the elimination of racial discrimination while at the same time acknowledge and celebrate the strength of our diversity york regional police sgt ricky veerap pan said this marks the second year the event has been held it will be bigger this year he said we have more groups taking part they represent multicultural ethnic and religious groups there will be more performances and more displays indira naidoo an anchor person with omni television is master of ceremonies herbert carnegie of future aces foundation and a recipient of the order of canada is the guest speaker the event is being held in part nership with the york regional police and markham cultural groups admission is free milliken mills high is on kennedy road south of 14th avenue drivers escape injury in hwy 407 crash alexis fowler was on her way to toronto for a job interview when she saw her life flash before her eyes we were incredibly lucky she said visibly shaken after two trucks flew across the hwy 407 median into oncoming traffic near pine valley drive friday morning we were driving along and all i saw was this huge transport truck bounce out in front of us then it was just twisting and sliding toward us and i guess we just stopped i didnt even know anything hit us until we got out and saw the dam age the bumper of one of the trucks impaled the front grill of her severe ly damaged car we were that close said her husband trevor fowler i need a beer two other drivers were taken to hospital with serious injuries after their cars were hit by the truck and a second truck that also flipped over the median with the two trucks burrowed into the hill on the side of the high way and three mangled wrecks left in the centre of the roadway the eastbound lanes of the toll highway were shut down at pine valley and remained closed for most of the morning ontario provincial police are still investigating how the crash began details on the cause and the extent of the other drivers injuries were not available friday afternoon adult video store robber a markham adult video store was robbed wednesday for the sec ond time in the past month around 9 pm two men entered the adult video depot on hwy 7 and while one demanded cash and merchandise the other showed off what appeared to be a gun tucked into his waist and fled the store have a beautifucsqn by spring laser photofacial mcrodermabrasien treatment with ultrasound chemical peel hydrodermie anti aging and aromatherapy facial permanent makeup body wraps massage pedicure manicure laser hair removal 15 20 25 discount check in for specials promotions gift certificates ashgrove spa wftcome to the ultimate day spa 6633 hwy 7 suite 304 markham 9052010343 wwwashgrovespacom open monday saturday iaiji