Dear Editor,
Re: “Visibility and bilingualism are top priorities: Top cop,” News, March 31.
It is reassuring that the new RCMP boss in Richmond, Supt. Will Ng, is hoping to increase the visibility of his force.
It seems that since the headquarters were moved a few years ago from Minoru Boulevard, in the centre of the city, to the Ironwood area, uniformed police have all but disappeared from the local scene, unless there is a traffic accident.
I am not calling for a traditional copper on his beat, but I do believe the occasional presence of a uniform might make our sidewalks safer from those adult cyclists who insist on sharing them with us, even when there are cycle lanes available, and the arrogant driver who tries to play chicken with us as we cross at a crosswalk with our fingers tightly crossed.
Maybe some of the police now watching for cellphone-using drivers could monitor crosswalks occasionally. Publishing statistics of such infractions might give careless drivers the feeling they, too, are being watched!
It would be interesting to know how many such breakers of the law (cyclists or drivers) are ever apprehended and ticketed, either by the police or the city’s bylaw officers.
I am one of those elderly people, aka seniors, and a constant walker of city streets, whose city fathers, and others, often wring their hands over. Making sidewalks and crossings safer for us would be appreciated by all citizens and not only the less nimble amongst us.
Nick Wilson
Richmond
