Oceanside Community Safety

I'm one of those odd drivers who tries their best to drive at or below the posted speed limit. I include the word below here as sometimes there is a need to slow down to less than the posted speed limit for safety reasons. This often has consequences for me when I have to share the road with other drivers who do not subscribe to my philosophy on road safety. A good example of this is looking in my rear view mirror and finding the Volvo logo on the grille of a heavy transport truck following me closely enough that I could count the bugs stuck to it.

1) 2016-3181 On April 19th, a mischief to vehicle was reported to have occurred at a business in the 300 block of Island Highway East in Parksville. The complainant advised that upon arrival at work he discovered that culprits attempted to break into and possibly steal one of the vehicles in the car lot.

1) 2016-3074 On April 15th, a theft from a business was reported to have occurred in the 2200 block of Alberni Highway in Coombs. The complainant advised that he discovered a theft from his store and upon review of video surveillance observed several unknown suspects stealing property. This matter remains under investigation.

This spring, like most others, door-to-door handyman scams will increase. There are some reputable door-to-door handymen, but you need to be aware of fraudsters trying to take advantage of you. They may offer to fix your roof, clean your gutters or to do other odd jobs. They may tell you they are working in your neighbourhood and could even use a neighbours name to try to gain your trust. They may try to entice you by saying they have left over materials from another job, and therefore, can offer you an amazing deal!

On March 31, 2016, the Oceanside RCMP received a suspicious complaint, possibly extortion. The complainant, a local businessman in our community advised that he received and opened an unknown email and his computer immediately locked up with a virus. A message appeared on the screen saying that some of his documents were locked and if he wanted the documents unlocked he would have to pay for their release. The local police were subsequently contacted and investigation revealed that unfortunately the sender of the email was not traceable and may have been out of the Middle East.

Arrest someone, fight with them, throw them in jail and see them through to penalty in criminal court seems to be business as usual for the police, but write someone a traffic ticket and it's like you've called their mother a bad name. Very few drivers hang their heads, apologize for their mistake and said hand over my ticket, I'll do better next time. Those people do exist and probably receive the benefit of a doubt more often but those that don't wind up asking me for dispute advice in the DriveSmartBC discussion forums.

Drivers who admit to an error are willing to pay the price of the ticket as long as they don't get any penalty points. This is often heard prior to the commencement of traffic court if the issuing officer makes inquiries among the disputants. The trouble is, if you plead not guilty and are found to be, the justice presiding has no control over penalty points. They are assessed by ICBC in response to the conviction.

1) 2016-2669 On April 2nd, a theft from vehicle was reported to have occurred in the 300 block of Meadowview Place in Parksville. The complainant advised that sometime during the early hours her unlocked vehicle was rummaged through and her purse was stolen. The purse was later found abandoned in the 100 block of Weld Street in Parksville.

1) 2016-2596 On March 31st, a theft from vehicle was reported to have occurred in the 1000 block of Resort Drive in Parksville.  The complainant advised that during the early hours culprits entered his unlocked vehicle and stole a GPS, a garage door opener and approximately $20.00 in change.

Road ConstructionWhat construction zone? I didn't see any signs back there! This irate motorist was very definite expressing what she thought about the traffic ticket I was issuing her for speeding in a construction zone. I suggested that once we were done I would be happy to help her make a U-turn so that she could go back and check on the signs.

I knew that there was more than one large orange warning sign with flapping red flags in addition to the temporary speed limit sign leading to where I had stopped her. She accepted my offer and that was the last time I saw her. No doubt she saw them the second time past and decided not to dispute the ticket.

One job that should be on your spring chore list is to borrow an electric engraver from your local Community Safety Office, so you can mark your possessions in case of theft. The engravers are easy to use and are available for loan, free of charge, at both Community Safety Offices listed in the left column.