Burnaby Mounties are encouraging anyone who wants to learn more about personal safety to attend an upcoming presentation on the issue, in light of a spate of sexual assaults in the community.
The RCMP will be holding a personal safety seminar on Wednesday (March 30) at Burnaby Mountain Secondary, 8800 Eastlake Dr.
The free seminar, which will be led by Burnaby’s crime prevention unit, will cover the basic principles of personal safety, including safety tips, recognizing signs of danger and knowing what to do in a compromising situation.
RCMP Cpl. Daniela Panesar noted the unit offers information seminars on a regular basis, but the recent sexual assaults in North Burnaby makes the event timely.
“Personal safety has always been an important issue, and I think everyone should play a role in their own personal safety, for people to become educated on these things we’ll be covering,” she told the NOW.
While the sex assaults were a factor in holding the event, she said the seminar won’t be a discussion about the recent cases.
Burnaby RCMP have been investigating five sexual assaults since the end of January, the last one happening on March 6 along the Burnaby Mountain Urban Trail.
The five assaults since Jan. 29, also prompted local Mounties to create a sexual assault task force to investigate the crimes.
RCMP have stated it’s too early to say if the incidents are linked; however, some of them have similar characteristics and for that reason police noted all five are being investigated by the task force in order to enhance the investigation.
Three of the incidents occurred at night near Holdom, while two occurred in daylight along the Burnaby Mountain Urban Trail. All the victims in the incidents were young.
Panesar said the seminar isn’t the first, and won’t be the last on the topic.
“I think this is something we’re going to continue to educate people on, is personal safety because it is an important issue,” she said.
The presentation is set for 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the school’s multi-purpose room.
The session is free, but people are being asked to RSVP the crime prevention unit at 604-294-7859 or [email protected].
