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THE ERA Wed October YORK REGION ONE YEAR LATER The Second Section Sports News District News Entertainment PART 1 A NEW POLICE FORCE Bruce Crawfords goal To regional police The word Metro is considered a nearob scenity by some regional politicians They see A Toronto as a dreary example of all that is to be 9 avoided choking pollution jammed express- ways claustrophobic highrise apartments bloodwringing taxes walltowall people And they fear that one day perhaps very soon the groping tentacles of Metro will sweep away York Regions assessmentrich industrial ized southern area into its smokefilled domain So when Bruce Crawford talks of fzfng the regional police he risks political blasphemy But no matter For the regions chief of police its tbe only way to go And the process goes much deeper than the To Serve and Protect motto stamped on Yorks police cruisers Certainly I make no bones about it he says What Im trying to do is Metroize this force I spent years with the Metro force Thats the only way I know Fortunately Metro has a very excellent reputation for police work If we The York Regional government is j completing its first year a year filled with political controversy citizens and occasionally comic relief pro- j I vided by an unpredictable regional coun- What has regional government ac complished in York in- it first year i How is it working And where will it go from here This week in an attempt to answer these intentions The Era pie the first in a of depth special re- on the York Region 1 Yea Later was wrecking havoc on his septic tank That problem solved he then decided to send his well water off to Ontario Water Resources Commis- unfit for human the 194man force that in one respect has Ontarios toughest responsibility York Reg ion square miles is the largest area in the province patrolled by a municipal police force And among his goals for the near future lection has depreciated from the old days There was a lengthy legal fight between the police as sociation and the police commission over the location of the But today as he nears the end of one year in office Bruce Crawford is satisfied Well lm not really satisfied and I never will he because I know there always will be areas where we can improve our service he says in his office at the new headquarters on Prospect The new patrol zones went into effect with in the past month and are designed for more efficient delegation of responsibility to the men who drive cruisers A patrol car cannot leave without permission of a dis One of the major amalgamation problems how to spread the York force through tut the region It has resulted in charges from critics that citizens dont know their cop the youth of today he says Its very difficult for a policeman to deal a juvenile offender after dealing with ad its You cant treat or talk to a young thief in lie same way as an adult thief and as police ten we dont always adjust well to that situa- and special Identification branch specialists but the manpower shortage pre cludes freeing any officer to work In ID mat ters Chief Crawford hopes that in the near fu ture hell he to appoint one of these men to do nothing but handle fingerprinting pho tography and other ID functions We have some fine qualified men to do and they use these skills in their Yorks chief was born in York Township and following his schooling at York Memorial Collegiate and two years in the Navy he joined In he was appointed deputy chief of the newlv formed Toronto Port Police the first such police force in North America and in was named chief He remained with the port police until Ins appointment as York Regions chief last December on Main St Citizens in and Wood- bridge have made blanket charges that police protection in those towns had declined when regional police took over The people who had the least before are screaming the loudest now Chief Crawford re torts to the and Woodbridge to statistics on fatal accidents Chief Crawford says The traffic habits of people in this region and the people using region are lousy York Region with 150000 population has had fatals to date Through September standardization of police cruisers Yorks police commission decreed a line policy on manpower In 1971 Next year Chief Crawford will try to persuade the commission to give him more men He knows the Job wont be a push- But hes happy with the rapport between himself and the commission You have five damned good police commissioners here he says You dont con them at all Theyre inte rested in their work Ive kept them here for meetings from 10 in the morning till four In the afternoon and all slick right through until If theyre going to say the service is not as good theyre going to get a fight from me If they say its not adequate Id be inclined to I agree with that they should have more foot patrols at certain times Id love to have more men walking the beat We will when we have more men to do it We just dont have the men now Yorks police commission instructed Chief Crawford at the start that no more policemen would he added this year The realizes the economic Imperatives In this transitional year but he still maintains were seriously under strength High on Chief Crawfords priority list is a crackdown on traffic violators In York police recorded traffic prosecutions an ave rage of slightly more than three per policeman for a month In September prosecutions had zoomed to Thats still not enough he says and will continue to be stepped i The next year the chief hopes to establish traffic division to intensify traffic last two York County wardens of a type that will nab speeders coming and Wallace He credits and his 11nian staff with a helluva good job on such sensational cases as the arson burning of a Keswick marina and the seizure of Canadas largest hashish cache And in tho routine stuff the detectives arc showing steadily Increasing efficiency he says High on Chief Crawfords priority Constable Henry Scott on Newmarkets Prospect St during a r patrol last Friday York police arc down on traffic violators but theyre not quota system Chief ftrucc Crawford main tains lousy is how the chief describes the driving habits of motorists in the region White Photo Transfers mean never having to say youre sorry to a speeding friend When Frank was a King Police constable he got to know the area liens well So well In fact that occasionally hed a speeding motorist off with a warning if the driver happened be a friend hes no longer King Township Constable Prank Laskoski And he doesnt give speed outlook In one in A When to a different area where you dont know anybody youre less apt to give a warning and more apt to lay a charge Some affected officers might have resented It but the largescale transfer of policemen hat ac companied the new regional system helped create a better police forte says Constable And a a result taxpayer are getting more far their money through better protection Constable who was transferred from King to Vaughan Division is the new president of the regional police association Last week he and association vicepresident Don Lewis outlined their opinions of the new system In an Interview at Sgt Iewls homes In Aurora Both agree that the regional police force the public better service than the 14 local forces In York County provided last year They say i has already produced a better calibre of policeman And they contend that once a few hugs e Ironed out things will Improve even more The transfer of officer from one area to an other ia the key to the progress made already they same roads when you go from point A to point 1 A transfer pulls you out of the rut makes you more alert makes your job more challenging The citizens get letter coverage than before I expected a transfer and I think more necessary says You get working In one place Transfers are needed for the proper integration of a police force ship Under King a Ives you a different Ilcforc 1ST adds the south end was always at loggerheads witfrthc north It seemed like a couple of sergeants In Vaughan tried to lord it over the rest Now that many south end officers have been transferred to the north Its kind of bat- anted out It just makes you do your job a little belter he says Youre under now superiors and you realize that maybe you wont get away with some of the things you got away with before Both officers feel there arc problems to be worked out such as standardization of filing and records forms every division still does things dif ferently says but theyre personally happier than under the old system Take uniforms for Instance Lewis Policemen used to have to go to court wearing pants with the scat out of them I know we worn them interjected Now they lay policemen dont have to worry local policemen had to drive Inst year And If any thing goes wrong with them in they go to the ser vice station says It doesnt have to reach the point where officer refuses to drive a cruiser because tires are bald What these examples rolled is the distinct ad- vantage of removing police from he authority and the a local council they Politics play far less part In itoliclng than before Regional council must approve Ihc York police coin- Chief llrucc Crawfords crackdown on traffic violations has given riso to charges that policemen are on a miota system And some policemen pri vately maintain theyre under pressure to turn In a certain number of speeding tickets each week traffic violations and the same lime period The police commission I controversy for several months this year when York officers legal proceedings to the ranks they held last year The policemen charged that tho commission had lite gaily demoted some senior who were chiefs and sergeants tho regional system was ere- I ho FRANK DON LEWIS The complainants also Ion was forcing them to take examinations In order confirm ranks they previously held The two primary reasons behind the complaints most lost among the tangle of legal jargon that surrounded case Laskoski claims The demotions bruised egos of some who had senior ranks before he says Now most of them realize the reclassification was to their be nefit some make more- money In lower ranks than they did before as chiefs Ive talked to these people and theyre hap pier now than ever before Adda I as When they how the York Regional Police was working I think they probably were glad they were demoted Some of older fellows would have had a rough time ai sergeants The other main complaint and one which never surfaced during the controversy was the timing of the examinations set for Tul Who wants to study In middle of summer asks The exams were eventually re scheduled for this Saturday It gave he applicants more time pour over their twoInch thick text- When the commission re classified all officers to acting ranks it really got the guys backs up recalls They fell they were being put on probation again bo says After the ranks were confirmed settled down Confirmation of ranks part of out-of- court compromise settlement reached between complainants ami the commission and Lewis ore happy the executive has received from the police commission And theyre Impressed with Chief I his deputy chiefs Stan We have excellent leadership Tho chief Is second none The deputy chiefs are the best you could find So are the thing theyve done Is geared a mora efficient police force Adda As president of pollco as sociation I can say we want lo cooperate fully with the chief and commission to develop a better police forte to make working conditions the best we can have police happy and public happy I think were headed In the right direction