CHIEF CALLS FOR POLITICAL ACTION TO CURB 'PLAGUE'

Deadly Wake-Up Call

Police officials across Canada responded yesterday to the shooting
deaths of four Alberta Mounties on Thursday, expressing their remorse
and weighing in on the contentious political and policing issues
surrounding the marijuana trade.

In Ottawa, Chief Vince Bevan -- a consistent critic of lenient
marijuana laws -- pulled no punches when pinpointing blame for
Canada's spiralling scourge of illegal grow-ops.

"This is a serious problem not being adequately dealt with by
Parliament," he said. "Through sentencing and legislation, we are not
treating grow-ops seriously."

Chief Bevin said the "plague" of grow-ops hold the potential for more
life-threatening harm.

"Many times, we've executed drug busts and found weapons or locations
booby-trapped and these people don't seem to care whether they shoot
at police officers or rival gangs," he said.

Cheif Bevan was not alone in his criticism. Across the country, police
officials said the deaths are also a two-fold wake-up call: for
officers to be ever vigilant while on the job, and for Canadians to
recognize the dangers of the illegal marijuana trade.

In Winnipeg, Police Chief Jack Ewatski said the deaths highlight the
need for police officers everywhere not to become complacent even in
the most routine of duties.

"We are in a profession where we could be hurt and we could be
killed," Chief Ewatski said. "Obviously, people will use force to
guard this valuable commodity."

But not everyone is convinced grow-ops are the threat they are being
made out to be.

Prominent Toronto defence lawyer Peter Zaduk-- who has represented
defendants in more than 150 grow-op prosecutions in southern Ontario
- - said stronger penalties for grow-ops might scare away small-time
operators, but "the vacuum will be filled by the people who are
willing to take the risks."

Mr. Zaduk dismissed as nonsense suggestions by police and Public
Safety Minister Anne McLellan that grow-ops are run by violent members
of organized crime groups.

He noted that in a trial in Barrie, Ont., last month, a senior Ontario
Provincial Police officer testified that he had encountered violence
in only two of 800 marijuana raids.

Vancouver Police Department Inspector Dave Nelmes, who investigates
grow-ops, said "in Vancouver, we haven't encountered a lot of
resistance in our enforcement of marijuana grows. We have not
encountered a lot of booby traps. We've only had one or two reports of
firearms, and those were hidden away and we found them in searches."

Some police officials concentrated on Thursday's human loss and
declined to be drawn into the grow-op debate.

In St. John's, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Chief Richard Deering
called for a minute of silence at a press conference while responding
to news of the slayings. "What a sad day it is in the policing
community, particularly the RCMP community," he said of the officers'
deaths.

In Toronto, interim police chief Michael Boyd said now was not the
time to debate political issues.

"My focus is on the families and the colleagues of the RCMP officers
killed yesterday," he said. "I don't want to take advantage of this
particular situation to talk about some other things that are very,
very important. And I think that I will be prepared to speak in the
forthcoming days about these issues. This is a terrible tragedy and I
really want to keep the focus on this tragedy in Alberta."