RCMP PLEDGE TO HOLD THE LINE

I was recently asked to comment on what the police were doing to
combat some of the visible hand-to-hand drug deals that are sometimes
observed in certain parts of the community. My answer, like everything
else in policing, is not simple and certainly not black and white.

Last year, our officers did 32 "dial-a-dope" investigations. These
dial-a-dope operations are set up and run by organized crime groups
who use specific telephone lines (usually cell phones) and paid
runners (delivery persons) to supply product (usually methamphetamine
and crack cocaine) to addicts. Thirty-two times last year, these
runners showed up to deliver product only to find out that their
customer was a police officer - they really do need to be more
discriminating.

From these people we seized $44,000 in cash and $106,000 of their
product. In addition we also seized two handguns and an assault rifle
from them. They also lost seven of their vehicles to forfeiture. From
those investigations, we laid 52 counts of possession for the purpose
of trafficking and eight trafficking charges (all of which carry
maximum penalties of life in prison). Additionally, we laid three drug
possession charges and 22 various other criminal charges.

These are pretty impressive statistics for a relatively small
detachment such as ours and we hope these efforts will make a
difference to the health and safety of our community.

I think they will - but not to the extent that one would
think.

The sad reality is that the "law of supply and demand" reigns supreme.
By that I mean "as long as there is a demand, there will always be a
supply and indeed a supplier."

For every delivery person we take off the street, the organized crime
groups will recruit another. For every dealer we send to jail, another
will step up to ensure the supply of dope (it's called that for a
reason, by the way) remains uninterrupted.

Fueling this cycle is the addict. It is that insatiable demand that
guarantees our efforts alone will never fix the problem. While our
enforcement efforts serve to perhaps "keep a lid on things," they also
tend to displace or simply move the problem from one area to another.

Drug addiction is generally both a social and a health care issue; and
one that directly or indirectly affects every citizen. Everyone needs
to be fully engaged with this issue. It's our role as the police to do
two very important things to help deal with this issue.

First and foremost is effective and targeted enforcement in order to
try to "hold the line" so that the associated crime and disorder does
not get too far out of control. And secondly, to work co-operatively
and in an integrated fashion with those other social and health
agencies that are tasked with dealing with the addiction and hence,
the overall demand.

I believe that as a society we can beat this current wave of
addiction, but we will never do it strictly through enforcement. We
must fully commit to finding new and innovative ways to detox and
treat the current addicts but more importantly, through education and
early intervention, ensure that no more addicts are created.

It took a generation of concerted effort, but look at the great
success we've had in reducing the tobacco addiction; drug addiction
can also be beat.

So, to answer the original question about what the police are doing to
combat these open drug deals: we pledge to continue to "hold the line"
and stand ready to work with Health and other social service providers
to reduce the demand.

Insp. Pat Walsh is the officer-in-charge of the Mission RCMP
detachment