VPD access plan would speed emergency response time
Posted June 3, 2014 10:59 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It could soon be a little easier for Vancouver Police to get in to your building in an emergency.
A plan, dubbed Project Access aims to work with building strata and rental companies.
The goal is to give the VPD access to any residential building through a secure computerized so they can get inside apartment and condo buildings immediately instead of waiting for someone to open the main door.
Retired VPD and RCMP officer Leo Knight says it can be a bigger problem than some people think.
“They have to get somebody to answer the front door. I’ve seen cases where they’ve literally pressed every button on a control panel to try and get somebody to let them in.”
He emphasizes seconds save lives.
“If the police have much quicker access, then certainly potential victims could be assisted much earlier before they get hurt or before something much more serious happens. In the case of domestic abuse, where the victim is calling 911 and maybe there’s a 911 hang-up and they don’t know all the details, in those types of calls speed is an absolute necessity. Police treat those kinds of calls as priortity-one calls.”
They still need to work out technical details with strata and rental companies.
Knight says he’d like to the idea gain traction outside of Vancouver.
