Top cop arrests fire chief at city council meeting
By Tayla Scott
No one would ever think of Boston Pizza as a jail, or that the Fire Chief would be arrested for threatening to retire. But on June 23, both these things will be a reality.
“Cops for Kids and Boston Pizza will be hosting their first annual jail and bail fundraiser on June 23,” said Courtney King, Cops for Kids event co-ordinator.
Fire Chief Gerry Rempel was “arrested” at city council on Monday for “uttering threats” that he may soon retire. Rempel will serve his time by acting as judge as determining how much bail is set at per ‘suspect’.
“We were looking for someone to arrest to kick off the event. We hopefully caught a few people off guard,” said King.
“Now what we’re looking for are jailbirds. People can either snitch on a friend or a co-worker, and we’ll go and arrest them on [June 23]. Or people can turn themselves in,” said King.
Anyone from the community can be nominated for arrest by e-mailing info@copsforkids.org or calling 1-877-500-4543.
“Then once we’ve got them in jail, the jailbirds will be responsible for calling friends and family or co-workers or whoever to get their bail money,” said King.
The arrested person will have to stay on the Boston Pizza patio until their bail is raised.
“The snitch can give us an idea of what would be an appropriate amount [of bail money]. Our judge that day will also determine what might be a proper amount. Our jailbirds might be guilty of some other crimes that we might charge them with and they might need to come up with some additional bail money for that,” said King. “If the snitch was a little bit hard on them we might ease up on them and lower their bail.”
“Money raised from this event will help Cops for Kids fund much needed medical equipment, therapy, learning and mobility aids for local children,” said King.
“We’ll probably start picking up our jailbirds at around 9 a.m. and try and do our last pickup at around 3 p.m. It’s about a two hour turnaround time for each jailbird,” said King.
“I’m proud to be a part of Cops for Kids as a rider and local RCMP member,” said Cst. Rob Gardner. “This event is a fun way for us to raise money to help kids with items that aren’t covered by government or other local agencies. If you’d like to snitch on a friend or co-worker, or even nominate yourself, we’d love to lock you up in our jail for a while.”
“They’re hoping to raise a minimum of $2,000, which is Cst. Gardner’s fundraising minimum to be a part of the Cops for Kids ride team in September,” said King.
“In September I will be riding as a member of the Cops for Kids ride team, and in the past year we’ve helped quite a few Castlegar area families with finances to help them through their struggles,” said Gardner. “As we continue to grow our fundraising efforts in the area, it’s great to see support coming locally as well.”
More information can be found on the Cops for Kids website, including the information on how to sign someone up as a jailbird.
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