MORE POLICE PROMISED IN CRACKDOWN

Victoria police vowed Wednesday to put more uniformed officers
downtown during tourist season and reclaim street corners from
gangsters and drug dealers.

As the city launched its annual scrub-up promotion, Insp. Grant Smith
told an appreciative crowd of business people and politicians that
they can expect to see more uniformed officers walking the beat,
riding bikes, and going after careless drivers and illegal
skateboarders this year.

Smith said his targeted policing division will accomplish this by
shifting its priorities from undercover operations to high-visibility
tactics. He said 28 of his 40 officers will be in uniform, while the
remainder will work undercover. In the past, the numbers were reversed.

Now, undercover projects will target specific individuals or groups,
rather than a random sample of drug dealers and users, he said. In
particular, police will go after problem street corners, such as Yates
and Douglas, which has become a magnet for drug dealers.

Smith was speaking at the Bedford Regency Hotel at a chamber event
held in recognition of the Safe Streets Initiative. It followed a
promotion in which merchants were encouraged to "scrub up" their businesses.

"I'll make a pledge to you here and today that ownership of certain
corners in the downtown area is going to cease," Smith said to
applause. "We are working hard to ensure that no one group of people
controls corners or intersections or blocks."

Smith said police also plan to be more aggressive in cracking down on
driving and pedestrian infractions, as well as day-time
prostitution.

Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe said the city continues to work in
partnership with business, health and social service agencies to
reduce drug overdoses and communicable disease, limit the open
consumption of drugs and alcohol, and improve public order.

"We want to make downtown uncomfortable for drug dealers," he said.

Downtown merchant Denyce Burrows said the most significant changes
have occurred behind the scenes, out of the public eye.

"This community is really going to start working together to find
solutions for every segment that needs help," she said. "We're not
fighting with each other. We're really working in unison with each
other, and that's really exciting."

Smith said police hope to measure their success in fewer complaints
from business people and the public, and an increased feeling of
safety among respondents to citizens' surveys.

Smith said surveys have found that 81 per cent of people feel safe
downtown during the day, but that number drops to 51 per cent at
night. "That's why we've come up with the strategic priorities that we
have, to try to increase that perception of safety," he said.

Smith said police have already noticed improvements since they began
making the changes in late March.

"We're not seeing the ownership on the streets . . . on the corners,"
he said. "We're seeing less visible drug activity in the downtown
area. We're seeing less harassment of business owners and their
employees in their stores and the alcoves leading into their stores."