2006 IN REVIEW - CRIME

If there was a consistent message coming from Peterborough police
throughout this year it was this: yes, drug use is problem in this
city, but it's not just a policing problem.

In February, former Town Ward councillor Bill Juby approached the
police services board about creating a committee to fight drug use.

The result was a substance abuse community mobilization initiative.
Started in March, the initiative involved more than 25 community
groups and service agencies.

The idea, said deputy chief Ken Jackman, is to take an educational and
treatment approach to the fight against drugs with the help of the
community.

One result of the initiative, from an enforcement perspective, was
Project Crackdown. The project, an undercover police investigation
targeting street-level crack cocaine dealers, ran from Sept. 13 to
Nov. 3. Many were shocked at the results; a total of 133 charges were
laid against 47 people. However, those who deal with addiction
services every day were not surprised by the numbers.

And addictions counselling agencies were quick to point out that,
among their clients, alcohol is by far the most common problem among
all age groups.

But the fight against drugs is a fight against other crimes as well,
according to police. Many property crimes, including residential and
car thefts as well as robberies, can be directly related to illicit
drug use - addicts needing quick cash for their fix, say police.

This was one possible reason given by officers at a public meeting
Nov. 30 following a series of convenience store robberies from mid-to
late- November. Business owners, store employees and police met to
discuss strategies to prevent thefts.

Although the number of all reported criminal offences to date has
risen by about 14 per cent - from 4,510 in 2005 to 5,151 this year -
there's been a significant increase in the break and enter category.
By this time last year, 275 break and enters were reported. This year
so far, there have been 469 reported break and enters and 67 per cent
of those were residential.

Reports of assaults and sex offences were down 1.4 per cent and 3.1
per cent, respectively, from 2005 to this year.

Also notable in 2006 was the conclusion of two lengthy criminal
trials.

Ten years after the crime, a Peterborough man was convicted of
manslaughter in the death of 21-month-old Jenna Mellor. The
24-year-old still can't be named because he was a minor at the time.
He was babysitting Jenna the night of her death, and confessed to
punching the toddler because she was crying. Jenna's mother Brenda
Waudby was originally arrested for her daughter's death and is now
suing the police services board, members of the police and Dr. Charles
Smith, the pathologist who conducted Jenna's autopsy, for negligence.

Russell Post, the man who killed 62-year-old David Little in 2003, was
also convicted recently. Mr. Little was found dead in his apartment
after having been beaten and stabbed with a broken bottle. Mr. Post
pleaded guilty to manslaughter and on Dec. 1 was sentenced to serve
four years in a federal penitentiary.