RESIDENTS DECRY INCREASED CRIME

South Nanaimo residents want to take their neighbourhoods back from
prostitutes and drug dealers.

"A relatively small number of pretty desperate individuals have set
the tone for our neighbourhoods and residents are horrified what has
happened in the last six months to a year," Douglas Hardie, South End
Community Association chairman, told more than 300 people who packed
Bayview elementary school gymnasium Wednesday for a community meeting.

The meetings panel, which included representatives from Nanaimo RCMP,
city council, city bylaws department, city social planner John Horn,
Crown counsel and Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog, got an earful from
residents who were for the most part angry and frustrated.

Complaints ranged from the Red Zone that keeps undesirables out of
the downtown, a lack of police action, absentee landlords and courts
too lenient to open drug use and sex acts, women being approached by
johns looking for prostitutes and residents feeling unsafe on their
own streets.

Cpl. Dave Laberge of the RCMP bike unit took the brunt of the
criticism, defending the Red Zone and police effectiveness.

"The genesis of the problem is poverty, drug addiction and mental
illness," he said. "We cannot police those problems out of the community."

Suggestions included increased police presence, targeting johns more
aggressively, stop concentrating all social services in one area,
litter cleanup and neighbourhood beautification, lighting the
playground and park on Haliburton Street and moving the Red Zone to
include the Nicol Street McDonald's restaurant and Patricia Hotel on
Haliburton Street.

Laberge said the city's nuisance bylaws are effective, but police and
bylaw officers need complaints and need fact patterns.

"We need something we can justify if it goes to court," he
said.

Vigilantism came up a couple of times during the meeting and Hardie
said that would be a disastrous road to go down.

"Just the fact it is being talked about is concerning," he said. "We
have a good police force and we must let them do their job."

Ilan Goldenblatt of the Thirsty Camel Cafe on Victoria Crescent said
an enforcement attitude is not working and it is time to think of
more creative ideas.

"Every year there are more drugs on the street. Cleaner, cheaper
drugs and every year we throw more money at the problem," he said.

"People tend to get turned off any idea of throwing money at homeless
junkies but if you look at it from a dollars and cents point of view,
it costs taxpayers more in enforcement than dealing through social
issues."

He said one would have to be a fool or blind to think if you shut one
crack house down another will not open up.

"Our jails have long stopped being correctional facilities. People do
not come out of jail corrected," he said.

Mildred Louis, a Haliburton Street resident, said the meeting was a
baby step in the right direction but she doesn't see it making an
immediate impact on her life.

She challenged the panel to spend one day in her shoes.

"They would see johns picking up hookers, people shooting up and
people having oral sex on the street," she said.

"We can't go outside anymore. Night and day it is constant and I
think the police must have blinders on.

"We're threatened because they know where we live and they know what
we drive."

Goldenblatt said the meeting brought out horrible attitudes toward
dealers and prostitutes.

"While I talked about change through social issues they cheered and
clapped, but they also cheered and clapped when the guy from the
legion said hang all the drug dealers," he said.

"The dealers in town are not driving around in fancy cars. They are
users, living horrible lives. Do you believe a little five-year-old
girl thinks about growing up to be a prostitute?

"The system has failed them and like it or not, they are part of our
community."

Hardie said the number of people at the meeting demonstrated the
depths of the concerns.

"It is critical we don't lose sight that our most powerful resource
is ourselves."