B.C. school vandalism heats up with summer

Anti-vandalism efforts boosted after worst year

Maria Rantanen, The Maple Ridge Times [British Columbia]
Published: Friday, July 04, 2008

The vandalism report for June 26 was grim: both Laity View Elementary and Maple Ridge Secondary had eight smashed windows, Westview had one and Golden Ears Elementary had one, but school district secretary-treasurer said it’s just a “continuation of what’s been a very bad year.” The 2007-08 school year was the worst year for vandalism since the school district starting keeping statistics seven years ago.

Despite more than $100,000 invested in initiatives to deter vandalism like automatic sprinkler systems, high-pitched noises and a hotline, Woytowich estimated that repair costs will be between $600,000 and $700,000 this year.

“You can’t give up,” Woytowich said. “You can’t know how bad you’d have been if you hadn’t done anything.”

The school district is trying a few initiatives in the summer to try to cut back on summer vandalism.

Shutters are being installed on many school windows, which keeps the windows from getting broken but the shutters themselves often get splattered with graffiti.

To protect the greenhouses at Westview and Thomas Haney Secondary — which often get climbed onto — they will be encased in plexiglass to stop vandals from climbing on them and kicking in vents and breaking windows. The district has also changed security firms, and Hughes Security will now be patrolling the school district’s property and responding to calls on the hotline.

“We weren’t getting value for money,” said Woytowich of the previous security firm.

Throughout the school district, there were 65 break & enters and 253 reports of broken windows from September to May – statistics for June aren’t available yet.

There were 356 reports of graffiti, 308 of external vandalism, and 136 of internal vandalism. Maple Ridge Secondary reported the highest number of vandalism incidents totalling 151. The elementary school with the highest number was Harry Hooge with 55 incidents.

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School vandalism heats up with summer

Kate Webb, Coquitlam NOW [British Columbia]
Published: Wednesday, July 02, 2008

As students were busy enjoying their first weekend of freedom after the end of classes, vandals were busy smashing out 21 windows at Maple Creek Middle School.

The acts of vandalism grabbed Coquitlam RCMP’s attention after the school’s alarms went off around 6 p.m. on June 22.

The school district’s vandalism report shows five windows were also destroyed at Central Elementary on June 19, and another three at Hillcrest Middle School on June 24.

Certain types of crimes are seasonal, and this would be an example of a seasonal crime,” said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Brenda Gresiuk. “In the past we have experienced more of these types of incidents at this time of year just because there’s no one at the school.”

Ken Niven, assistant director of operations for School District 43, said screens are currently being installed at schools frequently under siege to prevent windows from being broken again, but that progress is slow.

“It’s money, and you target vandalism as it happens,” he said. “You don’t want our schools to look like prisons, so you install screens as they go.”

Gresiuk said RCMP have established a school liaison unit with six officers on bike patrol to establish and maintain relationships with youths during the summer months, and to watch for vandalism hotspots.

“Their primary mandate is to be patrolling the schools, liaising with the youth and watching the areas that are not accessible to police cars,” she said.

The number of school windows smashed out this time last year was not available from police or school district officials by NOW deadline.