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

Area s new chief detective says standards high The Canadian Constitution has been a good incentive to police officers to main tain high standards of performance asserts the new head of criminal invest for area regional police With the Charter of Rights everything to be done letter perfect says Staff Sergeant Roy Smith which is good because it is making us better police of fleers That means building a strong case through meticulous work that is fair to the rights of the accused But it also means police must spend more time and money on investigations to meet the standards required by the courts adds Staff Sgt smith Staff Sgt Smith replaces Staff Sgt Us Graham as head of the Criminal gallons Bureau for 11 Division which covers The transfer lakes Graham to where he will head the Criminal Intelligence Bureau The transfers are not promotions but arc part of the force career deve lopment program to give its officers wide- ranging experience It is a valuable position for me to assume because get to expand my know ledge of the department says Staff Sgt Smith It personally gratifying to me because I gel to work with other people In the district He previously worked as a uniform staff sergeant with 1 1 Division where he would only have contact with one shift at a time As head of criminal investigations Staff Smith along with his staff are responsible for case management They coordinate and guide involved invest gations doing such Ihtngs as setting up surveillance tracking down witnesses and Information and ensuring both appear in court at the appointed time Staff Sgt Smith is careful to point out that detectives do not overshadow uniformed officers in then- Each tatties a different side of crime fighting I want to give the impression that this is an elite office be says Uniformed officers are the front line troops and we are there to back them up Uniformed officers are the first at the scene of a crime and often handle their own Investigations However because they have patrol responsibilities they cant always devote time needed in more involved cases such as or robberies In such instances the detective will assist or take over Most of our work is follow up invest gallon work says Staff Sgt Smith Staff Sgt Smiths previously worked in for six months in 1976 His Involvement with police work and especially police work in is a long one After spending three years as military policeman in the Canadian Forces during the late Sixties he joined the Town of Milton Police Department in 1970 which later became part of Halton Regional Police He and his wife live in Milton Ive policed here for pretty well my I find It an enjoy able place to work with excellent facili ties He does remember with some fondness his days here in Georgetown in the early 70s when police worked out of cramped quarters on Mill St near the bote One of the big concerns then was bar room brawls on a weekend evening Several times I would be at the desk and would have to walk across the street to back up the other officer on duty and haul the guys in he smiles Tunes have changed Staff Boy Smith WW A GeorgetownActon Wednesday January 11 Georgetown IB Mountalnvtew Rd N GEORGETOWN 8775108 Toronto Una Mayor Ruts Miller says the rural area of were worst Rural roads are clear but some of the huge snow banks blow back by recent heavy snowfalls but it doesnt seem to bother these two onto roads when the wind whips up girls exercising their horses on the Sixth Line Sunday afternoon Mavor savs Rural areas hit worst by December snowfall by Cord Murray Mayor Miller says he can fully derstand why taxpayers every corner of Hal on Hills are upset with snow plowing and removal service this year He called this newspaper Friday and offered some observations about Ihe snow service this winter and the many many complaints he hearing 1 know people want action and not ex But most years the situation woutdn be this bad If we went out hired more men when we have a disastrous winter what would we do them Ihe next nine years when we have normal winters Then wed be getting complaints that were paying people to lean on their shovels Miller declared Ifthewintercontinuestobe severe everyone just going to have lo suffer at times I agree its tough to get around town Georgetown and Acton these doys but its even worse in the rural area he said Miller says he isnt getting many calls from Acton residents but thats only because the people are calling Councillors Rick Ross and Dave Whiting He said he knows the ward one representatives are receiving lots of calls However the mayor says hes getting loads of complaints about the roads In Georgetown and the sidewalks loo ho wishes people would clean their walks Complaints are flooding In from he rural area be says Miller rhymed off lists of roads hes had complaints about like the Fifth Line Tenth line Ninth line Eighth Line etc People In the rural area say theyre hating no trouble getting around the two towns they cant get Into the urban areas One lady asked me why were removing mow from the White Bridge the bridge over railway tracks on Highway or GudpnSt ttGeorgetownixbodyeangctln from the country to go over it people who have been snowbound rand area Citizens are also complaining about dfffl cullies in getting around in parking lots like Arena or parking area at Acton Library Milter says hes taken these up with staff but they understandably are countering that how can they worry about parking lots when people can get around on the roads Solutions to this problem are being worked out Wc ve got more work than we can handle his year Weve had more snow and really cold weather early in the winter than usual We be doing fine if this was a normal winter Miller explained there re 34 men working on the snow crews and wilh a winter like this probably we should have There have been more deaths recently than usual so works staff have been busy in the cone cries too cutting into snow service time We re short the men we need to handle this and weve been practising restraint If Ihe rest of the winter is like this the people MarwRassMtlkr will just have to suffer and put pressure on councillors to increase the snow budget In fad it a something were going to be looking at anyway and a lot of us members of council are talking about it now He says this problem wilh snow has been building for several weeks now and the situation has just been getting worse If we could only have a week with no storms wed get caught up and wed be fine He noted that as of Friday morning there hadnt been a lot of fresh snow so crews were out then and would be on the weekend hopefully the mess would finally be cleaned up for a while Money the Town saved last winter because it was an easy winter had to go into rural roads which because of the mild winter wound up being in worse shape than usual Miller acknowledged that hes aware a lot of Acton residents believe Georgetown gets better service but the same kinds of com plaints the Acton Free Press has written about In recent weeks hes also hearing from Georgetown people In a disastrous winter like this one has been so far he thinks the only sure solution is for the Town to hire six to more men and put an extra to In the budget He realties snow service Is a high priority with citixens in December January and February People suggest cutting back on other things such as recreation in fact hes already heard some councillors talking along the same lines but then councillors will just bear another set of complaints later The about recreation spending cuts may be from different citizens but theyre taxpayers In winter snow removal is In he summer Ita forgotten and the com plaints are about lack of recreation spend tug on fields Summing up the winter observed maybe we just have to accept a few things which are really unacceptable tor a short tune Roads bad Dont put children on school buses if worried Parents put their children on school buses if they have the slightest qualms about the weather or driving condi tions according to Board of Educa tion Trustee Artene Bruce Acton Bruce Esquesing Trustee Dick and Georgetown trustee and board chair man Betty Fisher discussed bussing in light of the bad winter Halton Hills Is experi encing this year in interviews this week Parents must realize they are under no pressure to send their children on the buses if they have any concerns about the weather In the case of parents of toddlers when the weather is iffy they should feel comfortable not sending their children Bruce declared Fisher said she and her colleagues and Bruce have been on top of bussing pro blems this winter She noted Howitt ihd Bruce have brought problems to the atten tion of the administrator In charge of the buses while she herself has taken the matter up with Director of Education Wally and executive committee Parents have been calling the trustees and they noted they welcome the contact parents Fisher said the board strives for per fection where the safety of the children on buses Is concerned There have been a few problems this winter one morning in In particular when roods were quite Icy Fisher explained when conditions arc bad because of snow its easy to see Icy roads con be more difficult to detect Were the board trying to be more astute to early morning conditions Fisher explained explained board administrator Jim Hunt is in touch with the regional regional public works the airport weather office and all the bus companies before deciding where buses will run The ing trustee has suggested staff also contact Halton Hills public works to obtain even Regional chairman Peter Seek Guide handbooks White Oaks area Girl Guides are having a tough time buying Girl Guide Hawdbooki and theyre hoping former Guides In Acton and Georgetown areas will help alleviate the problem Eileen a Girl Guide trainer in the White Oaks area says the handbook is sold out In stores and Is now being reprinted In the meantime shes hoping people who have old handbooks will donate them so girls In tbe program now wont have to do without In addition to the old handbook to looking for any other books that have any thing to do with Guiding to become part of a resource centre that would be available to all Guide leaders area which Includes Acton Georgetown OakflBe Brampton Hilton and Bottott Shes toping anyone with or other material pertaining to the Guide eat win call the area office at 27W or Nagels herself at more detailed information about weather and road conditions in this area All of the trustees noted its a difficult decision to make and its hard to predict what will happen with the weather How ever Howitt noted a decision must be made so radio tions can be notified Fisher admitted one morning this winter there was a complete error in judgement regarding if the buses should run We hope It won tbe repeated Well be more astute to in the future We will have errors but I hope not again this winter She emphasized the board would never send the buses out In poor conditions jus lo keep the school open Throughout the entire winter there pro a months worth of bad days when tough decisions have to be made about bussing Bruce observed She said decision Isnt made In Burl where the board office Is located its made locally through consultation between Hunt and bus company operators who go out and examine the roads Were not perfect there can and will be bad decisions made so parents shouldn t send heir children on the buses if they are at all worried Bruce declared Even on the one bad day In north west Halton Hills when the buses shouldnt have run Howitt said the right decision was made for per cent of Bus drivers have standing orders to turn around if the road conditions are bad Theyre not expected to plow on through the snow drifts and tee no matter what explained The board and Hunt do a good Job of making a difficult decision 99 per cent of time he declared The board is on the horns of a dilema explained there are complaints some days if the buses run and complaints the Id rather see us err on side of safety If theres any doubt at all Pomeroy pays for bigger car Dont get your dander up if you see Regional Chairman Pete driving around in a large new Mercury Grand Mar rather than the midsize Ford LTD Halton Region was going to lease for him Everything Is above board At least one reader was annoyed enough by the sight to phone The Independent wilh a complaint but an investigation determined is paying for the added costs of the larger vehicle out of his own pocket It was reported last week that was going to receive a leased midsized Ford LTD through the region along with mileage costs and a increase in salary This was approved by council causehehas taken on bis regional duties full time while his predecessor Jack was a parttime chairman The region la paying a month to lease the Grand Marquis the full lease price of an LTD and the additional leasing price and operating costs of the Grand Marquis will be paid by totaling about a month In addition if the three year lease is broken before its date a penalty must be paid to the dealer will have to cover additional charge for the Grand Marquis over an LTD about extra term regional chairman lasts for two years Two car crash There were no injuries in a two car crash on Sideroad of Erin Township near Con according to Gudph OPP Police say Lynda Home 38 Grand Valley was westbound and Karen Kllner or RR was when Bom applied the brakes and into each other according to Homes vehicle sustained about In damages and Kunera There were do charm laid