October1990

vol3/#2

Colour me green

What you don't know
can kill you

by Paul Harris

Workshop presenter Carlos Valdivia

by Flora MacLeod

A house in a suburb bums following an explosion in the kitchen. It
may be a relatively routine house
fire, but it could be an illicit drug
lab burning. People at the site are
injured. Cyanide gasses are in the
air. Toxic substances are stored in
the house. There is a danger of
more explosions. The site may be
booby trapped. Firefighters,
police, ambulance attendants and
hospital personnel risk contamination with life-threatening chemicals.
Did the firefighters have protec-

tive clothing and self-contained
breathing apparatuses available
and did they use them? Did police
follow procedures and protect
themselves when handling
evidence? Were cyanide treatment kits on hand? Were ambulance and hospital staff made
aware of the risk of contamination and were emergency decontamination procedures followed
by all personnel attending the
fire? Did all responders know the
symptoms of chemical exposure?
continued on page 6

Green ....... enviro ...... bio ..... .
nutri ..... fibre ....... natural these, and a few other pithy
prefixes are the buzz-words of
modem marketing. Have you
trundled your buggy through the
supermarket recently, and
stopped to consider how we are
being assailed and manoeuvred by
the multinational agribiz and
pharmaceutical companies to buy
products labelled thus? I know
you have. If greed or gluttony
won't sell a product, well, why not
try guilt as a sales tool? If you're
anything like curmudgeonly old
me, you've probably been tempted
to load up your shopping cart with
white bread, canned food, detergents with phosphates, highly
bleached paper products, plastic
garbage bags and T.V. dinners
packed in styrofoam - simply out
of sheer contrariness, a desire to
thumb your nose at the corporate
manipulators.
Common sense and a genuine
feeling of concern ultimately win
out with me, however, and I end
up trudging (not driving!) dutifully home with my whole grain
bread, my bio-degradable garbage
bags and phosphate-free detergent, my glass-bottled milk andwhenever possible - food bought in
bulk with little packaging. Etc.
Etc. Etc.
Unless you've been living in a
cave for the past 20 years, you'll
know that the world has major
continued on page 3

Fire AcadC1my • Police Academy • Corrections Academy • Finance and Administration Division • Courts Academy
Educational Services Division • Emergency Health Services Academy • Provincial Emergency Program Academy

Police
recruit's essay
reveals
unusual field
training
technique
by Cpl. Mark Johnstone

Part of the requirements to complete the Police Academy's Block
III Recruit Training involves writing an essay. The essay must
describe an incident which occurred during the recruit's eight
weeks of field training and which
evoked some sort of emotional
response in the recruit.
One recent essay was particularly revealing. The recruit
described an incident in which he
was attempting to check a denizen of the skid row area of Vancouver. His polite inquiries were
being met with a certain degree of
verbal abuse and a total lack of cooperation. In fact, the recruit
remarked that some of the replies
involved actions which were likely
to be physically impossible.
Adding to the recruit's discomfort
was the fact that his lack of success was being observed by his
ever vigilant field training officer.
Eventually, the field trainer intervened and used a tactic that
truly amazed the recruit. He
asked the man ifhe was hungry
and then gave him a sandwich
and cookies. The person became
very co-operative and the check
went smoothly from that point.
The recruit was astounded by
the generosity and insightfulness
of his supposedly hardened and
cynical field trainer. He
remarked, "That was awfully nice
of you to give that guy your
lunch."
The field trainer turned to the
recruit and gave him a smug
smile as he responded, "That
wasn't my lunch - it was yours."
Cpl. Mark Johnstone is an Instructor in the Police Aca.demy. 0
2

EHS Academy wins
research grants
by Tony Williams

Every academy at the Justice Institute has files full of compliments about the quality of its
training. The compliments come
from many sources including actual course evaluations. But
these "whoopie ratings" do not
give us hard data about the effectiveness and efficiency of our
training. For this we must look
at what we are doing with the eye
of a statistician and researcher.
Research projects will tell us not
only if we are doing things right
(efficiency), but also if we are
doing the right things (effectiveness).
At its planning meeting last
year the JI executive identified research as one of its strategic objectives. Since we are novices in
this field, the EHS Academy
turned to its more experienced colleagues at UBC Hospital, Shaughnessy Site, for help. The research
group there, headed by Lark
Susak, guided us through the
grant application forest. We sent
out over 30 applications and as
each "We regret to inform you ... "
letter came back we began to
wonder if we would ever have the
money we need to research our effectiveness. But, as so often happens, everything happened at
once. Not one ... not two ... but
three applications were approved.
A week later yet another funding
agency called to say it was interested and wanted more information.
To cut a long story short, we
now have research grants totalling over $75,000. The projects
and the funding agencies that
supported us are as follows:
Project/Funding Agency
• Develop an EHS medical
database/Woodward Foundation;
• Role of automatic defibrillators in improving survival

from cardiac arrest/University
Hospital Foundation;
• Feasibility of pre-hospital administration of thrombolytic
therapy by paramedics/
University Hospital Foundation;
• The accuracy of pre-hospital
diagnosis of patients with
shortness ofbreath/University
Hospital Foundation; and
• The efficacy for maintaining
automatic defibrillation skills
using a non-instructor led,
stand-alone simulator/Leardal Corporation.
The team that launched our research section includes Instructors Pat Seline and Dave
Macdonald, Program Director
Kelly Murphy and medical advisors Drs. Schrieber, Glazer,
Rumball and Christenson.
We are excited about moving
into the research field. Not only
do we expect to learn more about
how to conduct research, but we
hope it will confirm that what we
do is both efficient and effective.
Tony Williams is Director of
Emergency Health Services
Academy. 0

1990 Christmas
Celebration

Saturday, December 15, 6 p.m.
at the DeH Lounge
13020 DeH Place, Richmond
Ask your social committee
rep. for details.

The J/News Vo/31#2

Green...continuedfrom page 1
problems, and that we humans
have turned into the numero uno
problem. We're soiling our own
nest and - with almost six billion
of us around - we'll be destroying
that nest soon. Newspapers have
recently reported on research that
shows mother's milk to contain
six times the "acceptable" levels
of dioxins and air pollution in the
lower mainland on some hot summer days approaches that of the
famed L.A smogs. Hey, I don't
have to tell you all of this stuffyou know it already, I know!
We can wait for governments who will waftle until we're choking in our own waste - to do something about the situation, or we
can take action as individuals and
groups to make a better world for
ourselves and our children. It's
not a fad, it's not a trend, and it's
not going to go away. We can do
something about it, or not, as we
choose.
The Executive Committee of
the Justice Institute, recognizing
these simple truths at its recent
retreat on Vancouver Island,
made the decision to place the JI
amongst those who are concerned,
and who are willing to work for
change. Certain changes have
been made already, on an ad hoc
basis, with the paper recycling
programme and the introduction
of the JI ceramic coffee mug. The
decision was taken to create a
Green Committee at the JI to try
to determine how we as an institution can contribute to a cleaner
and better world. The first meeting will be held on November 8,
and as far as I'm concerned, anything is grist for the mill at this
stage. Do we content ourselves
with the simple actions which will
help clean up our own act, or do
we put put ourselves in the position of proselytizer and
proponent, attempting to exert influence beyond our own grounds?
In other words, do we simply concentrate on the mundane issues
ofrecycling, encouraging public
transit, reducing waste, etc., or do
we see ourselves as an advocate
on the broader scale, and look to
see how we can have an influence
on the world population ex-

TheJINews Vo/31#2

plosion,.the use of driftnets for
fishing, the razing of the tropical
rainforests, and so on?
What about B. C. 's rainforests?
Indian land claims?
We have no answers yet - we're
not even sure what the questions
are - and we welcome your ideas,
suggestions and criticisms. We're
open to all. Send them in to me,
or talk to your divisional "Green
Rep." We don't plan to create any
sort of"Green Gestapo," and I,
personally, if I see you walking
up the hall with a styrofoam coffee cup in your hand, will not
upbraid you for that fact (though
I may have secret thoughts on the
subject). My feeling is that the
world will not come to an end if
the odd individual uses a
styrofoam cup, nor will it be
saved it another individual conscientiously uses a ceramic mug,
but drives to work every day in a

polluting automobile. We can
stand around all day pointing
fingers at each other, but that's
not the point.
The point is to get on with it and that's exactly what we intend
to do.
We are (in no particular order):
Chair:
Paul Harris
EHSA:
BarbHunter
Police:
Diane Oberton
Corrections: Chris Beresford
Media Centre: Will Mah
Fire:
Anne Langdon
Ed. Services: Tad Dick
Courts:
Gail Makowski
PEP:
Sam Meckbach
Linda West Recording
Secretary
Paul Harris is the newly-appointed chair of the Green Committee. 0

•••SPOTLIGHT• • •
On staff
Changes...
Kelly Murphy has left Emergency Health Services Academy.
Kelly successfully bid on a
Superintendent's job in the B.C.
Ambulance Service. Edlynn
Rivard has also resigned from
EHS Academy and has moved
back to Kelowna. Kathryn Reid
is the new Accounts/rravel Clerk
for the Academy, and Monica
Mantler has joined EHSA as Office Support Clerk.
In Finance and Administration
Division, Sabrina Tong has
served as Secretary to the Justice
lnstitute's Board, President and
Bursar. Effective October 22,
Debbie Watts joined the Division
as Supervisor of Admistrative Services. Sabrina will now handle increased responsibilities for the
Board and President's Office.
Courts Academy secretary
Gail Makowsky returned from

maternity leave on October 1,
while Cindy Teather, who
had held temporary positions in
Extension Programs and Courts
over the past several months,
left for an extended visit to
Australia.

On visitors
The Honourable Lyall Hanson,
Minister of Municipal Affairs,
Recreation and Culture visited
the Fire Academy on October
11th. Mr. Hanson, Fire Commissioner R. Dumala, Mr. Ian
McLean, and Mr. Pat McGrew,
who accompanied the Minister,
spent approximately two hours
at the Academy where they
received an overview of the history of the Academy and its
programs, and the Safety Training Centre. Following their briefing the guests were introduced to
Fire Academy staff and toured
Lawrence Hall. 0
3

A report from the 1990 JIBC Executive
Committee retreat
by Larry Goble

October 2-4 were the dates
selected for the annual JI
Executive Retreat - held this
year at Dunsmuir Lodge in Sidney, BC.
The focus of the retreat was to

Staff workshops
cover the range of
JI courses
If you have always wanted to:

• learn the basics of emergency
first aid,
• test your reaction time on a
driving course,
• practice using a fire extinguisher,
• take part in native healing
practices,
• learn a better way to resolve
conflicts, or
• participate in an earthquake
preparedness workshop,
now is your chance!
The JI is in the business of
developing and delivering training programs - and JI staff
make those programs happen.
But they seldom have an opportunity to take part in programs
offered in academies and
divisions other than their own.
To remedy that, several
workshops have been scheduled
over the coming months that will
provide an opportunity for JI
staff to learn more about the
types of training offered by the
different academies and
divisions. Participation in the
workshops will also provide an
opportunity to get to know staff
from other departments while
learning new skills.
Brochures describing each of
the courses have been distributed
to all staff and board members.
If you have any questions about
the courses, contact Pat Ross,
local 220. 0
4

follow up on last year's strategic
planning session by identifying
and dealing with specific issues
that directors felt were affecting
our day-to-day operations. The issues selected for the agenda included:
• identify ways to better recognize excellence by staff and
students involved in JIBC
programs and services;
• identify and encourage more
joint programs and use of
shared resources in the coming year;
• increase the JI's efforts to improve our environment;
• continue to find ways to
strengthen the JIBC corporate
image;
• develop new ways to capture
and report the results
achieved by academies and
divisions in providing contracted educational support
services to clients over and
above student training day
reports;
e

•

•

• improve the consistency of our
major client contracts; and
• evaluate our JI infrastructure
support services (i.e., food services, gymnasium use,
marketing services with the
Open Learning Agency, etc.)
The Executive also made
recommendations to the JI Board
for institute-wide projects to be
supported from surplus funds,
revisited our mission statement,
and considered a new statement
on organizational values.
The Executive made decisions
on each of the issues presented,
developed action plans, and
added time lines.
As we work toward implementing these actions, a number of the
existing committees and staff
groups will be asked to participate in the process. The results
will he shared in future issues of
The JI News.
Larry Goble is President of the
Justice Institute. 0

NOTES & NOTICES • • •

Committee updates
Perhaps unbeknownst to many
of you, the JI has a system of committees in place to deal with a
variety of concerns and issues
having to do with the everyday
workings of the Institute: Soon
to join the list of 16 existing committees will be a new "Green
Committee" and an "Excellence
Committee." The members and
terms of reference for the Excellence Committee have not yet
been determined but committee
chair Phil Crosby-Jones (Police)
will approach potential members
over the next few weeks. His aim
is to have the committee up and
running by the first of the year.

Green Committee members
have been appointed and chair
Paul Harris (Administration)
has outlined some of his environmental concerns in an article
beginning on page 1. He has
also invited your ideas, suggestions and criticisms. To respond
to his appeal, call Paul on local
250.
The Room Booking and Information Systems committees both
have new chairs: Ross Mcintyre
(PEP Academy) replaces John Laverock (Corrections) as information systems committee chair;
and Steve Hess (Police) replaces
Irwin DeVries (EHS Academy) as
chair of the room booking committee. 0
The JI News Vol 31#2

Law Enforcement Torch Run
raises $140,000

by John Laverock

During the summer, the Law Enforcement Torch Run raised over
140,000 for the Special Olympics.
Twenty-two core runners, including Corrections Academy Director
John Laverock (above, right), carried the Special Olympic torch
from Calgary to Vancouver.
The run took place over a ten
day period which culminated at
BC Place stadium on July 11 with
the official lighting of the olympic
flame at the games' opening. At
each community along the way
local co-ordinators arranged
fundraising drives and local runners joined the core runners
through each community. The
run helped to raise a positive
profile of law enforcement in each

community and the funding contributions went to a very
worthwhile cause.
Police Academy Director Phil
Crosby-Jones was the race director for the BC portion and
through many months of detailed
planning he significantly contributed to the success of the run.
Bill Lyon (Administration) volunteered to handle the accounting
for the run and Robyn Towle and
Susan Huffman (Police Academy)
provided secretarial and organizational assistance.
The torch run was so successful that it will likely become an
annual event to assist in generating funds for the Special Olympics. 0

Fire Academy contributes to the first
National Native Firefighter
Competitions
The JI's Fire Academy played an
integral role in the very first National Native Firefighter competitions. The competitions were
hosted by the Richmond Fire
Department and were conducted
in Steveston on October 6. Participants in the event came from
Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, the Atlantic provinces and Yukon Territory.
Four Fire Academy staff members assisted with the competi-

TheJ/News Vo/31#2

tions, two of them served as
judges. The Fire Academy
pumper was also used in the competitions.
A highlight of the competition
was the presentation of the "Justice Institute of BC Fire Academy
Recognition of Excellence
Award." Fire Academy Director
Paul Smith presented the inaugural award to the team from
Moricetown, which represented
British Columbia. 0

Blind drivers try
out the PTEC
track
Imagine the frustration of wanting to drive a car but not being
able to. A group of blind and
visually impaired people who have
felt that frustration had an opportunity, on September 5, to find out
what a thrill it can be to be "Behind the Wheel."
The group met at the Pacific
Traffic Education Centre (Pl'EC)
near the Boundary Bay airport,
where they took turns driving
dual control cars under the direction of volunteers who gave verbal
instructions to the drivers.
Many people contributed to
making the day a success: Burt
Johnson of The Canadian National Institute for the Blind organized the event; Bestway
Driving Centres donated the use
of the dual control cars; Bestway's
owner Mary Baker and her professional staff instructed the blind
and visually impaired drivers; the
Provincial Transportation
Museum in Cloverdale arranged
to have a collection of vintage cars
on hand, complete with volunteers
who took everyone for drives; and
Pl'EC co-ordinated use of the
facility.
With plans to make "Behind the
Wheel" an annual event, others
may experience the thrill of their
first drive next year. 0

The Justice Institute
of B.C.
is dedicated
to improving the
quality of justice
and public safety
by developing
and delivering
training programs
and offering
educational services
to professionals
and the public.
5

JI/First Nations Tribal Justice Institute form "partnership"
by Phil Crosby-Jones

The movement towards greater
autonomy for first nations
peoples across Canada has seen
the emergence in BC of tribal
peacekeepers or tribal police
responsible for law enforcement
and related community social services on tribal lands.
Last year, the Police Academy
assisted the Lillooet and
Gitksan wet' Suwet 'En Tribal
Councils with their training
program. This November the
Academy will conduct a ten week
basic Tribal Peace Officer
Training program for the newly
formed First Nations Tribal
Justice Institute established by
the Westbank Band in the
Okanagan.
Thirty-five young men and
women representing native
bands primarily from within BC,

but also from as far afield as Ontario and Manitoba, will attend
this program.
Former faculty members Don
Walden and Darrell Kean have
agreed to assist with instruction
which will be delivered on site at
Westbank. Driver training and
firearms instruction will be
conducted at PTEC and the

Academy range in the Lower
Mainland.
This is the first of what is
hoped will be a significant
partnership between the JI Police
Academy and aboriginal police
traininghere in BC.
Phil Crosby-Jones is Director
of Police Academy. 0

Hostage-taking, barricaded
gunman incidents featured in
Police Academy course
by Steve Hess

In September, 18
have an extenemergency
sive background
response team
in tactical opera. tions and are
supervisors from
around British
presently atColumbia attached to the
tended a five day
training section
Tactical Comof the FBI,
manders course
~~:!l;Ji~ij~~~~
through which
!ii!
~ this program is
held at the Police
Academy. This
presented.
course provides police comOther users of this program have
manders with the knowledge,
been a wide variety of American
skills and techniques they need to
police forces, as well as the US
plan and direct operations in
Marine Corps.
hostage-taking or barricaded gunOne of the features of the Tactiman situations.
cal Commanders course is the exInstructors for the program
tensive use of situations and
were Supervisory Special Agent
scenarios involving case studies
Ben Tisa and Special Agent Hugh
and working with a model city
Galyean of the San Francisco ofcomplete with international airfice of the FBI. Both instructors
port. 0

What you don't know... con't from page 1
On October 5 and 6, Carlos Valdivia, a HAZMAT specialist from
the Seattle Fire Department
delivered two day-long seminars
on clandestine drug labs. Some
165 firefighters, police, emergency
health workers and hospital
staff received practical information in see-it-for-yourself detail
about "cookers," chemical fires
and hazardous materials incidents.
6

This service-integrated seminar was an example of JI collaborative training on an issue of
joint concern to health and public
safety personnel. The event was
co-sponsored by Emergency
Health Services, Fire and Police
Academies, and Extension
Programs.
Flora MacLeod is Program
Director, Extension Programs. 0
The JI News Vol 31#2