DRUGS AT HEART OF ASSAULTS: ALDERMEN

In the wake of two violent stabbings this week, Calgary aldermen say
it will take more than extra police patrols to thwart growing crime
downtown.

The investigation into a fatal stabbing at 8th Avenue and 4th Street
S.W. -- known as crack cul-de-sac -- Thursday night was complicated
because supposed witnesses to the attack actually watched another
assault at the same time.

Then early Saturday morning there was another stabbing downtown where
a 25-year-old man was knifed twice outside a club on the 200 block of
10th Avenue S.W. He remains in stable condition.

With 18 new police officers dedicated to the city core since
September, the recent violence reflects much larger crime concerns
downtown, Ald. Madeleine King said.

"I think we do have a large problem," said King. "We've seen a high
increase in drugs in Calgary and that affects all crime levels."

Under the current legal system there's not much officers can do to
permanently undermine Calgary's emerging drug culture, says Ald. Craig
Burrows.

Officers deal with the same faces day after day. But someone arrested
for drug trafficking in the morning is released that afternoon, he
said.

"As long as the province doesn't work on helping these people to cure
their addictions and as long as the feds don't want to start putting
tougher sentences I don't think much is going to improve."

Drug courts could be an effective tool to help fight downtown crime,
said Ald. Druh Farrell.

A city program, to start early in the New Year, will start diverting
some addicts from the courts into treatment programs. If they succeed
in remaining clean they can avoid criminal charges.

But a myriad of social issues -- including homelessness -- must be
addressed to effectively clean up crime-plagued East Village, Farrell
said.

Concentrating more than 1,000 homeless in one pocket of the city is
helping centralize crime because drug dealers often exploit their
addictions or pressure them to break the law.

"But we spend more energy worrying about where to put our cars than
where to put our people," Farrell said.

King agreed the balance of citizens living in the area must be
addressed, otherwise we are creating a no-go place where only those
intent on high-risk activities feel safe.

She supports the city's proposed redevelopment of East Village --
dubbed The Rivers -- because if more people worked, lived and played
in East Village, drug dealers may be less likely to congregate there.

But the aldermen add the social issues at the heart of East Village's
crime woes cannot be solved by city officials alone.

Burrows hopes that Alberta's new premier will be more open to helping
find long-term solutions.

"I don't know if it's because the government has been running on auto
pilot, but I think when you see a new leader come on board he'll
really get on this quite quickly," he said.