How A Bloody Riot And Massive Prison Break Brought Down Oakalla, B.C.’S Most Notorious Jail

On Dec. 11, 1987, three inmates at Burnaby’s Oakalla prison crawled through a hole in the wall, scaled a fence, ran through the streets of a quiet residential neighbourhood to a nearby SkyTrain station and hopped on a train — still dressed in prison garb.

At the time, officials decided not to inform the public of the escape, a decision that angered local residents and politicians.

bit.ly/2CZ7zSr via @globalnews

Former Vancouver Police Officer Sentenced To Jail In Sex Exploitation Case

Former Vancouver Police Department detective James Fisher has been handed 20 months in jail and two years probation for breach of trust and sexual exploitation.

READ MORE: Decorated former VPD detective Jim Fisher pleads guilty to sexual exploitation, breach of trust

He kissed two young women who had been witnesses in a criminal case.

Before he was arrested and forced into retirement, Fisher served 29 years on the force and served as a member of the counter-exploitation team.

That team investigates prostitution.

The Crown had been calling for 18 to 20 months jail time, and the judge has deemed that appropriate.

bit.ly/2s96m4D via @globalnews

B.C. Opioid Crisis Last Week Was Vancouver’s Deadliest Of 2018

After 11 people died of drug overdoses in Vancouver in a single week, advocates for people who use drugs say they expect more of the same until politicians replace the toxic street-drug supply with safer drugs.

The deaths happened from July 23 to 29, making it the city’s deadliest week on record for 2018. Suppliers and dealers continue to cut street drugs like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine with potent adulterants, typically fentanyl, which coroners detected in 81 per cent of the deaths this year.

In the first half of 2018, 742 people died of overdoses of illicit drugs in B.C., down from 816 during the same period last year (there were 1,451 overdose deaths for all of 2017), according to a new B.C. Coroners Service report. In Vancouver, 193 people died in the first half of 2018.

“It’s exhausting,” said Jordan Westfall, president of the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs. “Everywhere I go (with our) national group, people I know are just recovering from hearing about someone’s death. It is unending and I think it actually increases the trauma on the streets, the sense of desperation.”

Westfall said the deaths will continue until government fixes “broken policies and failures” to address the opioid crisis. His group has long called for legal access to clean drugs in order to undercut the toxic street supply.

bit.ly/2Q0d7zb via @VancouverSun

Stabbing Snarls Traffic In Vancouver's Downtown Eastside

Rush-hour traffic had to be detoured through Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Thursday afternoon after reports of a stabbing in the area.

The incident occurred before 4 p.m. on Hastings Street between Carrall and Abbott streets.

Video from the scene showed a heavy police presence in the area and at least one person in custody. Cars and buses could be seen backed up along Hastings.

A witness at the scene told CTV News she saw a man who'd been stabbed in the neck, but authorities have provided no details about what happened.

It's unclear if anyone was injured or how many people were involved.

Hastings was closed in one direction, but reopened about an hour later. Carrall Street remained closed to traffic later into the afternoon.

bit.ly/2rShvGU via @CTVVancouver