It's hard to believe that a kid who looks the way this one does is capable of some of the things that he is. Just a few days ago, he and a buddy of his went into a salon in Vanderhoof. They strode up to the nail technician and peircing expert to make an appointment. While this young hooligan distracted the woman, his partner grabbed her purse and left the building. The moment she finished making the appointment she noticed her purse was missing and called the boy back inside. He came, but when she told him that she was calling the police he took off running.

A Good Samaritan came out of his store just across the alley and ran after the boy. He didn't catch him, but he did retreive the purse. Unfortunately the deposit for the day had already been stolen - a sum greater than $600.

The story doesn't end here. The police were called and they did eventually arrive. They were provided with the boy's name and this picture, but nothing has been done. In the space of this year the salon has been broken into or vandalized five times including this instance of theft. What has the response been from the RCMP? They say, you are located in an alley. You should expect this sort of thing. This excuse seems ludicrous. Every business on main street has an entrance in the alley. And every business (like the salon) is fortified with steel bars or the like.

A cliche is 'to serve and protect'. Maybe the phrase means to serve citations and protect criminals. I can't help wondering whose rights I may be infringing upon by posting this. I am certain that those rights are more important than the rights of the innocent.

I know that the slogan for the RCMP is 'he always gets his man.' That's easy to do if there is never anyone on the list of criminals to apprehend.

Unfortunately for the ladies working at the salon, they are held responsible for the actions of others by the virtue of the location of building they work in. For the RCMP, the simplest way to ensure success seems to be to have have low expectations for themselves. In that sense, the RCMP in Vanderhoof excels. When a crime is reported, the RCMP is very good at following up to let you know that the criminal is known, but nothing can be done at this time... Maybe next time.

'Get out and go home' seems to be the subliminal message for these entrepreneurs. Personally, I'm not even sure why they continue to pay for a business license. There doesn't seem to be any benefits.