(This column was published in the North Shore News on Feb. 5, 2003)
Criminal habits are hard to break
By Leo Knight
A month or so ago, I told you the story about perpetual criminal Bobby Logan and his many trips through the revolving door of the so-called justice system.
I told you that no matter how many times he gets arrested, he doesn't change and the system will not deal with him in any meaningful fashion.
Logan, you'll remember, is by trade a cat burglar. Well, chief among his other illicit activities, he is anyway. Primarily, he breaks into homes at night and steals what he can. He has a long history of convictions for that.
When we last visited this poor misunderstood individual who, undoubtedly wasn't breastfed as an infant and that's why he does what he does, he had just been caught, while on bail, lying to another judge who despite that, yet again released him back into the community to again wreak his own brand of havoc.
On that occasion, he was given a curfew from 10 at night until six in the morning. I said at the time that it was a ludicrous court order and it was only a matter of time until Logan was caught breaking into another home. I said he would totally ignore any restriction placed upon him by the court. Guess what happened on Sunday?
Around 4 a.m. North Van Mounties were called to a burglary at Seymour's Pub in the Holiday Inn on Old Lillooet Road. A man was observed beating a hasty exit on a bicycle. Around the same time, police received another call of a bicycle just stolen. While patrolling the area, looking for the thief, the RCMP then got a call from the home of an elderly man who'd
been awakened by a strange sound: someone was in his house. The intruder was scared away by the senior's movement, fled on foot then picked up a bicycle which later proved to be stolen. In fleeing, he got into a physical struggle with one Mountie who decided to back off and let the canine unit track the fleeing thief. One great thing about police service dogs (PSD),
when they get a fresh track, unadulterated by lots of foot traffic, they almost always get their quarry. And so it was this time as PSD Boss tracked and brought down none other than our old buddy, Logan. Evidently, he forgot about his curfew.
Logan was in custody again, awaiting the full brief of the new charges he is facing to go with the other six charges of break and entering for which he was awaiting trial and subject to that laughable curfew. Now, I will not presuppose guilt on these or any of the other outstanding charges. That is rightly left to the trial judge and everyone, even Logan, is
innocent until proven guilty.
Having said that, one wonders what it will take for the system to start dealing with Logan and all the other habitual offenders of his criminal class in a manner that cases like this are crying for.
The sale of the Woodward's building on the Downtown Eastside from the taxpayers to the taxpayers defies logic and is just another colossal waste of our money and the latest joke served up by the loony left in Vancouver City hall.
But the biggest joke is on them.
Within a day of the purchase announcement, stories began flying around about how the building was being considered as a new police headquarters to get the department all into one building. The new mayor gave a statement saying all options are open. Vancouver Police Department issued a statement saying it would be considered and all the media and talk shows
adopted the position as a real possibility.
No one, you see, even though they knew absolutely nothing about the scheme, could bring themselves to actually say that.
Just in case, one presumes, they hadn't been consulted and didn't want to look stupid. Or worse yet, didn't want to look unimportant enough to be consulted.
Earlier, shortly after the purchase announcement, BCTV-Global reporter John Daly casually mentioned to the commissionaire, on duty at police headquarters at 2120 Cambie, that he'd heard a rumour that the building was going to be the new police headquarters. He deliberately made a point of telling the commissionaire that it was a
rumour.
Within hours, the rumour Daly deliberately started had become headline news as a real possibility being "actively considered."
Clearly, the loony left running city hall and spending taxpayers' money haven't got a plan - or a clue.
Daly wins the prize for the best "gotcha" in recent memory. And well done I say, for exposing the shallowness of those who are now running city hall.
In Ireland they have a saying: "What starts at this end of the street as a pillow, becomes a mattress by the time it gets to that corner."
Over at Vancouver City hall, what starts as a rumour in the morning, becomes a damn good idea that is "under active consideration" by lunch.
Wasn't it W.A.C. Bennett who said the socialists couldn't run a lemonade stand?
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