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4- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, February 24, 1998 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" COMBAT zone Special Durham Police unit takes aim at increase in auto theft in the region By Rik Davie Port Perry Star A special Durham Regional Police task force is out to put a stop to a $40 million-a-year industry now operating in the region. Operation COMBAT is a special joint task force formed early this year to bat- tle the alarming 109 per cent increase in auto thefts in Durham over the last five years. : COMBAT, which stands for Community Battling Auto Theft, has made 45 arrests which have resulted in 192 charges being laid since it began operations Jan. 12. The unit is com- prised of officers from various branches of the force, including Major Crime, Criminal Investigation, Uniform and the Intelligence Unit. Sgt. Paul Malik says that the task force is not just targeting high crime ares like Oshawa, but moving through- out the region -- including Scugog, where over 150 reports of car theft occurred in the last year -- to try and cut down on all types of car theft. "Eighty per cent of car theft is of the Joy-ride type, where a car is taken purely because the opportunity is there," said Sgt. Malik. "Some of these thefts result in the police chase situations where the chance of injuries to the public and officers increases dramati- cally. "Lock your car," he advised. "It's that simple. Many are crimes of opportunity, so don't allow the opportunity. Don't be known offenders and high risk areas. As well, officers are continually moni- toring locations of suspected chop shops. These highly efficient operations take upper-end luxury cars and vehicles popular on the black market for parts, and disassemble them in a matter of hours. The parts are then sold off below market value prices. There's another aspect to the unit's work as well; clamping down on the offenders, even if they're not pros. Sgt. Malik said young people think- ing of taking joy-rides should under- stand that it is a dangerous practice that police will no longer tolerate. "We are working with the crown attorneys and are taking a zero toler- ance stance on any one involved in car theft in the region," he said The Canadian Auto Association (CAA) is also working with the police to promote the "CAT" sticker program. It involves placing a CAT sticker in the rear window of your car. The sticker gives police officers the right to stop any vehicle displaying it if officers see it on the road after 1 a.m. and check to see the person with the vehicle has per- mission to use it. Police urge residents who would not normally be on the road after 1 a.m. to get a sticker from the CAA or local police so if the vehicle is stolen officers can nab the thieves as soon as they spot the CAT emblem. Information on stickers and theft prevention can be obtained by calling a victim." Police are targeting the professional thief as well, using surveillance of Durham Regional Police.at 905-579. at the police web-site www.police.durham.on.ca. 1520 or Durham Regional Police Sgt. Paul Malik a goals of the force's COMBAT auto theft unit. # "En t a press conference, outlining Epsom native loves work in Central America By Heather McCrae Farm & Rural Life Since the spring of 1992 Epsom native Patricia Asling has been working at a charity dental clinic in Benque Viejo del Carmen, a town of about 7,000 people in the Central erican country of Belize. A lack of government funding closed the clinic down last November. Now while she's home for a short visit to see family and friends, she hopes to show slides about her work among the Belizian people. After her graduation from the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto in 1963, Dr. Asling had a private dental practice in Uxbridge until 1971. After leaving practice she went to work part-time with the Durham/York Department of Health, and also became asso- ciated with the Ministry of Corrections when' she was employed casually at the St. John's Training School in Uxbridge and the Kawartha Lakes Girls School in Lindsay. Provincial cutbacks forced her out of a job in 1988. During her final years with the ministry, Dr. Asling visited Belize for a nature tour. "Belize has a good combina- tion of things I like to see, such as wild, colorful birds, the Mayan ruins and rugged land- scapes," she said. e following year Dr. Asling accompanied her brother, Jerry, also a dentist, on a two-week stint to serve at a small charity clinic in Belize. "We had to pay our way, take our own instruments and sup- plies and volunteered our ser- vices," she said. It's here she met nurse Margaret Juan, owner of the clinic who had come to Belize as a volunteer years ago and had eventually married a Belizian. The two women hit it off imme- diately. Mrs. Juan was also in the process of building a new clinic, and the two talked about Dr. Asling working for a longer peri- od of time through CUSO (Canadian University Services Overseas), a government agency that helped orientate volunteers in many third world countries. In March 1988 Dr. Asling applied and was accepted by CUSO but was sent to Jamaica initially for two years, instead. Finally arriving in Belize in November 1991, Dr. Asling didn't start at the clinic until May 1992 but still had plenty to do. First, she had to get her home organized and, being a nature lover, was forever snap- ping pictures of wildlife along the Mopan River. Her two-bedroom home was the size of the living room in her Uxbridge home. Constructed on blocks, the wood- en structure had no ceilings, just a zinc roof, and no glass in the windows. As a young girl growing up in Epsom, Dr. Asling had always been active in the church. She found herself attending regu- larly again when she joined the choirs of the local Catholic, Methodist and Anglican church- es. She learned how to speak Creole and sang in Spanish with the Catholic church choir. In the meantime Dr. Asling was kept busy providing basic dental care to the villagers; CUSO covered her living expens- es. There are only 22 dentists in Belize, a small country of 200,000 people that lies on Mexico's southern border. "It's a diverse population: half the population have com- puters in their homes, yet others could live in stick houses, with no toilets," said Dr. Asling. "The people live in a wide scope of conditions, anything from mod- ern to third world living. "The children don't drink much milk after they're weaned, and their sugar and salt con- sumption is very high," she said. "They don't eat a lot of vegeta- bles either; instead their diet consists mainly of beans, rice, and tortillas." The cost of living is high. A tube of toothpaste is $6 and most families with 4 to 6 children live on the equivalent of $50 a Patricia Asling has spent years working at a dental clinic in Belize, a Central American country. U.S. a week. But government funding came to an end, meaning fund- ing for the clinic dried up. Dr. Asling has been forced to leave the clinic and the country, but would like to resume her efforts to help the people of Belize. Here in Canada she wants to tell others about her ongoing work. While there is no charge for her interesting talks and slide show, donations will go towards her continued efforts in Belize. "Belize is my home now," she said. "I"d like to share my work with others." Call 852-3795 if you'd like more information about this Epsom native's work in Central America.