KEEP UP GOOD FIGHT AGAINST DRUG HOUSES

The Level of Frustration Is Evident on the Phone.

The father of two wants to talk about the problems he's having with a
drug house on his street. Try as he might, the problem just won't go away.

He calls police, the landlord, he diligently takes notes -- he does
everything he possibly can to rid his home territory of the problem
- -- but it continues to this day.

He calls me because he thinks that in some way there has to be a
solution, and maybe to vent a little, too.

I let him vent. As for a solution, frankly, there may never be one.

He says something new in this war against neighbourhood drug houses
- -- he feels like he gets no support.

What he means is that once in awhile it would be nice to get some
feedback, maybe just a little pat on the back, from the cops -- a
thank-you for being a good citizen, trying to do something, even if
it doesn't solve the problem.

I wish I could at least give him that, but he's talking to the wrong person.

But what the heck, let me try anyway.

Here's to all you good citizens who fight the battle, who believe
that when crime comes your way, you should call in the Mounties and
have them handle it.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Keep doing what you do to try to make your community a safer, better
place to live. Because when you give in to the dirt -- the drug
pushers -- then you give them even freer rein to sell wherever they please.

But the reality is this fight may be never-ending, and the results
may be minimal, no matter how many police or other resources we fire at it.

My caller tells me how blatant those who come to buy the drugs are.

They back up their vehicles as close as they can to other vehicles so
their licence plates are hidden from view. (Sounds like a good
argument to bring back the front licence plate.)

Given the investigative nature of the police's job, and the
importance of not giving the bad guys the upper hand, they cannot
keep tipsters up to date on active cases.

At the same time, police argue that their hands are often tied.
Police have to play by the rules -- drug dealers don't.

Those rules say police have to have sufficient evidence to raid a
home. And the rules also make it very difficult to get a judge to
allow a wiretap.

The rules protect ordinary, innocent people, too. It has to be that
way. The more power you give police, the greater the possibility that
there will be abuse.

And for those of you who have followed the Maher Arar case, you see
how fingering an innocent person is a terrible thing.

Are we more willing to accept some misuse of authority if it means
it's easier to catch criminals?

In Red Deer, RCMP are asking city council for a major increase in
staffing: 10 more officers and eight more support staff, at a cost of
another $846,000.

Police did put away several drug dealers in the city over the past year.

And the timing was perfect that just a few days after that big
request to city council, local cops had one of their biggest busts in
a while. Drugs, weapons and stolen property were involved.

But the problem that has most citizens most concerned is the
establishment of these so-called drug houses in neighbourhoods
throughout the city.

And how many drug houses have the police shut down? One estimate was
that there are about 30 such houses in the city, but it's rare that
police actually manage to shut one down. And when they do, sometimes
it's not for very long.

The chief of local police, RCMP Supt. Brian Simpson, says that two of
the new officers would be partially assigned to the street team
focusing on drug trafficking.

But this won't solve the drug house problem.

Neither will the province's plans to move along legislation to make
it easier to seize the vehicles of the dial-a-dopers -- the people
who sell drugs from their cars, vans and trucks with the help of cellphones.

It's a scourge, this drug trafficking. Even the possibility that
authorities will seize children from homes where drug dealing and
drug making takes place isn't enough to stop it.

The answer, the one effective way to stop the illicit drug world, is
to convince people not to buy crack cocaine or meth, or whatever the
dirty drug of the day is.

And in all honesty, who among us believes society is ready to do that? If only.

Still, please keep fighting the good fight.