XPost: bc.politics, van.general, vic.general   
   From: NoMoreCons@cda.ca   
      
   I really cannot fathom why successive BC governments have seen fit to close,   
   and keep   
   closed, psychiatric facilities for those who are KNOWN to have mental   
   problems.  Are these   
   the kinds of people that the Harper government has planned space for in his   
   'expanded prison   
   system'?  Do they have to become violent and endanger others before the bloody   
   Province or   
   federal government realizes these people need to be in treatment - and OFF our   
   streets?   
      
   We know that homeless people, once given a home in which to live - no matter   
   how small and   
   how sparce - no longer have the same level of anger and desperation they did   
   when they had   
   no home and lived amongst other dangerous and sick people.  But instead of   
   putting major   
   monies into building facilities with top-notch mental health care, our   
   governments are   
   throwing money on police force expansion and building of prisons.  Are we   
   totally, totally   
   mad?   
      
   After this incident, I hope more people see fit to petition their city and   
   provincial and   
   federal government (same email will do for all three) to change their way of   
   thinking and   
   put OUR tax dollars where they'll serve all of us best.  And that sure as hell   
   isn't into   
   celebrations and sports, while people are suffering every minute of every day.   
   ____________________________________   
      
   November 24, 2010 - CBC News   
      
   Hostage, 3, held at knifepoint before rescue   
      
   A young boy was freed by police early Wednesday morning after being held   
   captive at a   
   Vancouver community centre for more than eight hours by a man armed with a   
   large knife.   
      
   A young boy was freed by police early Wednesday morning after being held   
   captive at a   
   Vancouver community centre for more than eight hours by a man armed with a   
   large knife.   
      
   Police said a man snatched the three-year-old from his mother as they were   
   having a snack   
   inside the Ray-Cam Co-Operative Centre in the 900 block of East Hastings   
   Street just before   
   6 p.m. PT Tuesday.   
      
   The man then locked himself in a basement washroom with the child.   
      
   Majid Alemi told CBC News he was in the lobby and witnessed the incident.   
      
   "I saw him with a knife and carried the little boy, and he was shouting and   
   then going with   
   the little boy down... and the mother was crying," Alemi said.   
      
   Police were called in and, after locking down the building, they began   
   negotiating with the   
   man through a remote-controlled robot equipped with cameras, speakers and a   
   microphone. Once   
   they determined the identity of the 24-year-old, they also brought a member of   
   his family to   
   help in the negotiations.   
      
   Vancouver police Const. Lindsey Houghton said officers were able to speak with   
   the boy   
   through the wall of the washroom during the negotiations.   
      
   Then at around 2 a.m., two police officers came running out of the building   
   with the boy   
   wrapped in a jacket and whisked him into an ambulance.   
      
   Mental state deteriorated   
      
   Houghton said the emergency response team moved in to rescue the child after   
   the man's   
   mental state began deteriorating and he told them he had sliced the boy on the   
   cheek with   
   his knife.   
      
   "Our emergency response team members basically burst through the door and   
   rescued the child   
   from his arms to prevent further injury to the child," he said.   
      
   Houghton said the boy suffered a nine-centimetre cut to his cheek, but was   
   incredibly brave   
   throughout the incident.   
   "When the incident came to a climax, the kid didn't cry, he didn't make a   
   sound, he didn't   
   scream. The kid is absolutely amazing," Houghton said. "The cut, apparently,   
   is quite deep   
   in his cheek and will require at least stitches."   
      
   The boy was treated for the cut inside the ambulance and then reunited with   
   his parents.   
      
   "You could hear the screams of joy inside that ambulance, the little boy   
   calling out his   
   mother's name," CBC reporter Susana da Silva said.   
      
   Inside the building, as police were preparing to escort the suspect away, he   
   could be heard   
   screaming, "Get your hands off me!"   
      
   At around 2:30 a.m., the suspect was walked out of the building, placed in a   
   waiting   
   ambulance and taken to hospital to treat a small cut to his mouth.   
      
   Motive unclear   
      
   Police said earlier that the motive for the incident wasn't clear and that the   
   suspect   
   didn't know the boy's family, but there were reports the man hand been arguing   
   with staff at   
   the community centre before grabbing the child.   
      
   Houghton said the suspect is known to have had mental health issues and to   
   have been   
   involved in prior violent incidents, but not for any serious crimes. Police   
   said he could   
   face a number of charges, including assault with a weapon and forcible   
   confinement.   
      
   "If a child is in danger, there is nothing we won't do to make sure that child   
   is safe and   
   reunited with his family," Houghton said.   
      
   The City of Vancouver was expected to send a crisis management team to help   
   the staff at the   
   Ray-Cam Centre following the incident, but the community-run co-op and its   
   daycare were   
   still expected to reopen Wednesday.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)