CARSTAIRS MAYOR CALLS FOR MORE POLICE

Rural areas need more police to counter criminals who are moving their
activities out of cities to escape detection, says the mayor of a
small town north of Calgary.

"It's a concern, and the government has to look at how we're policing
the rural areas," said Carstairs Mayor Lance Colby.

Carstairs is 25 kilometres east of Cremona, where RCMP investigators
found a crystal methamphetamine lab hidden on an acreage last Wednesday.

Considered a "super lab" by law enforcement agencies, the operation
contained almost 10 kilograms of crystal meth, and used a large
quantity of toxic chemicals that were likely dumped on a nearby rural
road.

Increasing the RCMP presence in the area -- particularly highway
patrol units -- would increase the odds of spotting suspicious
activity on the roads at night, said Colby.

"It takes a strong police presence to do that," he said.

The RCMP has asked the provincial government for 30 additional
front-line, uniformed officers for the upcoming year, but the
government has yet to act on the request.

While more police could have an impact on drug trafficking and
manufacturing, Colby said schools and community groups must get
involved in drug prevention and education.

The mayor of Cremona agreed, saying citizens have an important role to
play.

"(Residents) need to be prepared to take down licence plate numbers,
identifying people and report it. If the attitude is, 'I don't want to
be put out,' then people are going to have this thing next door to
them," said Ken Foreman.

Police were tipped off about the Cremona meth lab by a realtor
checking the property. The suspected chemical dump was also spotted by
a member of the public.