The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist suntribune police news saturday jan 26 2002 budget boost allows for 30 new cops by jeff mitchell staff writer steppedup efforts to combat organized crime terrorism and hate crimes contributed to a budget increase of almost 10 million for york regional police this year chief robert middaughs budget of 103 million includes 30 new officers to combat biker gangs carjackers and marijuana growers the force needs the new officers 24 of whom will be frontline cops and 28 civilians this year to meet demands imposed by growth and special initia tives the chief told york regions finance and administration commit tee the police budget is up 104 per cent over last years total of 936 mil lion and represents the largest depart mental increase in a regional budget that will top 12 billion this year the overall budget increase for regional taxpayers is 23 per cent or about 32 on the average tax bill the increase will likely be accepted by taxpayers who rate policing as a pri ority service said sue walmer of the ratepayers of aurora yonge street south the police- budget tends to respond to the communitys needs ms walmer said if it provides us with security and protection i dont think there would be huge dissatisfaction from ratepayers aurorans are facing a tax increase of more than 8 per cent from their local municipality regional increases will be added to that bill but residents recognize the need for more officers as the population grows and the complexity of law enforcement increases ms walmer said recent acts of terrorism made us realize were not as safe as we thought were she said among the wrings will be officers to work in conjunction with other ontario forces to address the threat of terrorism a new line item on police budgetssinceseptil a heavy emphasis will be placed on intelligence gathering as the force bat tles terrorism threats and hatecrimes chief middaugh said there will also be an emergency response component to yorks terror ism effort if we do anything we must be able to read the warning signs we missed before sept 11 chief middaugh said and organized crime including operations by biker gangs such as the hells angels along with the prolifera tion of sophisticated marijuanagrow ing operations have been identified as high priorities by the community the chief said in all 16 new officers and two civil ians will be hired as part of the so- called specialized investigative initia tives at a cost of more than 15 mil lion meanwhile growth in the region necessitates the hiring of 14 new offi cers and 26 civilian employees at a cost of more than 26 million despite the increase chief middaugh said the york force contin ues to meet its responsibilities in a costeffective manner he said york region has one police officer for every 850 residents while the recommended residenttoofficer ratio is 750 to one we are still the highest police-to- population ratio in comparison to durham peel halton and hamilton regions and we are the most costeffi cient organization of those five chief see york page 7 wwwhartgemcom 9055137655 tovsaving bringthis ad vfoctari extra hio saving wholesale diamonds gold j shop and compare impairs appraisals remounting watch repair xfe insurance work free jewellery cleaning 825 denison street markham asthma we can help call the lung association this message broughtto you as a community service of the economist suntribune ms lives here twice as many women as men develop multiple sclerosis mcmyltiple 1 w sclerosis society of canada 18002687582 wwwmssocietyca this message brought to you as a community service of the economisttribune iivl jjsl v vehicle leasing appointment mark emin left president of landmark vehicle leasing is pleased to welcome barry cox right as an associate broker to the landmark sales team barry brings 38 years of automotive fleet leasing and marketing experience with general motors to landmark along with a vast network of friends and business associates barry has lived in the markham area for the past 25 years with his wife donna and their three daughters he is an avid golfer out of spring lakes golf club and former captain and executive member of the markham mens recreational hockey league landmark vehicle leasing is a wellestablished and fast growing leasing company with over 3000 vehicles in their lease fleet they specialize in new and used vehicle leasing of all import and domestic car and truck models landmarks head office is locate at 8920 woodbine ave suite 104 markham on three traffic lights north of hwy 7 at hopper s you can contact barry for a lease quote or for information on leasing by phone at 9054773477 or by email at bcoxlandmarkleasingcom ngus g otrc i u ut ii rin ourcharmingyictonaroom j slsmmor wanttostartyourownbusinessthis summer company be y boss then summer company is for you if youve got a winning idea for starting a new business and are a fulltime student who is not afraid of hard work then you should consider applying to our summer company program if your application is accepted you will be eligible to receive an award of up to 3000 up to 1500 up front to help underwrite startup costs and up to 1500 upon successful completion of the program summer company is a great opportunity for enterprising young peoplewho want to start and run their own summer businesses the program provides handson business coaching and mentoring from local community business leaders who will work with you to make your summer company a reality for guidelines application please contact markham business selfhelp office tel 9054754890 or email sandratamcitymarkmmonca or check out our website at wwwontariocanadacom kibkhflm ontario v 55v iw hcii rmmzkstw6 ir l business sale everything in store 0 if i vii va nw m markville mall 9054704148