CRACKHEADS CRAWLING BACK

One of the two baddest blocks on Leon Avenue has slid into the gutter again.

There have long been drugs and violence on Leon, especially between
Pandosy and Ellis streets, but this winter has seen another spike in
trouble. The drug sellers and buyers became more persistent as soon
as A&B Sound moved out last year, and there hasn't been any relief since.

That has resulted in RCMP announcing Monday that another member will
be added to the downtown enforcement unit.

"In this area of Leon, there have been expressions of extreme
frustration from business owners," said community policing officer
Garth Letcher. "Officers have a level of frustration, too.

"I receive complaints from businesses fairly routinely over the
safety of staff coming and going. It's bad for their businesses, too."

He said there has been no indication of a new tenant for the old A&B building.

Police have added a fifth member to the downtown enforcement unit. It
will allow the unit to operate seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Although there are only five officers now assigned to the downtown on
a full-time basis, they can bring in any additional resources they
need for undercover operations, such as drug or prostitution roundups.

RCMP Cpl. Lee Hamilton, who heads up the downtown unit, says the
extra member will mean there won't be any gaps in a police presence
on the street, as there have been in the past.

"They (the riff-raff) recognize when there is a gap, and they take
full advantage of it," said Hamilton.

Hamilton said there will also be more undercover operations.

"You have to make their lives so miserable they want to leave. It's
unfortunate, but we'll just be moving them to another city," he said.

It's not unlike traffic enforcement, he added.

"If I go to a particular spot on a highway and I'm there every day
doing laser, the driving population will begin to understand that if
they slow down, they won't get a ticket and we'll have fewer crashes.
But if I give up on it for three days, it's right back to where it used to be.

"We have to apply a constant pressure on these people downtown."

The drug problem also involves prostitution. On Feb. 23, four women
were arrested for soliciting. They were released, but two of them
violated conditions of release by returning to the "red zone" in the downtown.

They range in age from 22 to 45.

"What I've seen over the past three years is that it goes in cycles,"
said Letcher. "Last spring and summer, we were having good success
and then, all of a sudden, it flared up again. There has been an
increase in the public's concern over safety in the downtown over the
winter months."

Selena Stearns of the Kelowna Drop-in Centre said the extra officer
will help, but it's going to take more than enforcement to clean up
the situation.

"I'm not anticipating a very positive year forthcoming," she said. "I
expect we'll see more problems. It's bad.

"I know at a few of the businesses, the girls are extremely concerned
about their safety."

Angela Bolduc, general manager for MyTravel in B.C., said her head
office is considering shutting down the office on Leon even though
there are still two years to go on the lease.

"We are an office of women, and we feel helpless," said Bolduc.
"We've all got pepper spray. The downtown patrol walks us to our cars
after dark.

"I'm holding my breath that things will improve, but if something
happened to one of us and it was my decision not to move, I'd feel awful.

"It's hard to believe the blatant drug use right in broad daylight. I
don't know what the answer is, but picking them up and arresting them
seven times isn't the answer."

The riff-raff often use the doorway to her building as a place to use
drugs and as a toilet, she said.

There is mirrored glass on a building across the street from her
office. On Monday, she and her staff watched as a woman high on drugs
used the mirror to undress and change her clothes.

"That's the kind of thing we have gotten used to seeing here," said Bolduc.

Stearns said people go through the Crossroads treatment program, but
there is no place to put them where they can continue with recovery.

"They release them back to the street," said Stearns. "There has to
be a better way, a better continuum of care model, not just enforcement.

"The police get frustrated too," she said. "The guys are knocking
themselves out, arresting and detaining people who are inevitably
back out there doing it all over again. It's a ridiculous cycle."