CRACKDOWN ON CRIME ON DRIVE RETURNS COMMERCIAL TO PEOPLE

A Crackdown On Crime On Commercial Drive Has Returned Vancouver's Funkiest
Street To The People.

The Drive was plagued by drug dealers and users, young punks and drunks who
took over the sidewalks and the parks. Car theft and theft from cars was
skyrocketing, authorities say.

Assaults, vandalism, harassment, pan-handling and swarmings were becoming
all to common. Some of the increase in crime was attributable to the
crackdown on drug dealers on the Downtown Eastside. Some of it was home-grown.

"Things went haywire," said Eileen Mosca, president of the Grandview
Woodlands Policing Society. "It became a very scarry place to live and work."

Mosca said gangs of youths picked fights with and prevented people from
walking on the sidewalks. Grandview Park was filled with drug dealers and
Victoria Park, a favourite for bocce games, was taken over by drunks.

"They believed they could get away with anything," said Mosca, an area
resident of 24 years.

Then Vancouver police Insp. Bob Rolls decided to take back the streets. "I
felt this was an area that deserved attention," said Rolls during a recent
walkabout on the Drive. "It was an area that we were losing."

As District 2 commander, he makes the decision on where to employ manpower
in the city's northeast.

The Drive, he said, was in need.

"I have a real problem with drug dealers and criminals taking over our
parks and streets," he said.

Rolls launched daily, two-man foot patrols by beat cops in late February
and ran a drug roundup called Project Tabula Rosa that same month, which
saw 26 dealers arrested. He has undercover officers working the area and
has brought in extra police to work on the stolen car problem.

Police are keeping tabs on targeted youths who are known to them and a
patrol car with a probation officer is utilized.

Rolls, who doesn't claim crime has been eliminated, said unprovoked
assaults are down and there have been no recent reports of swarmings. Theft
of cars is still an enormous problem, he said.

Meanwhile, shop owners and residents say their community is back.

Robert D'Onofrio's family has run Kalena's Shoes in the 1500-block
Commercial Drive for 37 years. He said the street -- long known for its
tolerance of alternative lifestyles -- was going downhill.

He said break-and-enters, theft from stores, harassment, drug dealers and
drunks were all having a negative impact.

Increasing the police presence "has made a big difference," he said. "We
want this to be a place where people can come with their families and feel
safe. Now they can again."

Mosca, who deals with citizen complaints daily, was even more enthusiastic.
"It's just been amazing," she said. "We're back to where we were 15 years
ago. People are living without fear."

The decrease in petty crime has led to an increase in community pride.
Seven hundred students will soon help beautify the Grandview Woodlands
area, and banners and more garbage containers have been placed on the Drive.

But not everyone is in favour of the police patrols and the crackdown on crime.

The community policing office in Grandview Park was torched twice within
the past two weeks and has fallen victim to a series of accelerating
vandalism attacks. The latest attack Thursday morning left soot damage inside.

"The more successful the police are in cleaning up the Drive, the angrier
the people are who are being cleaned out," said Mosca, adding that her 90
volunteers who handle 1,000 incidents a year will continue their work.

"We are absolutely not going to be driven out of this park."

Rolls said the vandalism "just underscores the need for us to be here.
We're not going away. It's not going to be returned to the drug dealers and
criminals."

Vancouver police Const. Helder Confeiteiro has family ties to the area and
now patrols the Drive on foot as part of his duties in District 2. "There
are a lot of good people on the Drive and they need good policing," he said.

As he and partner Const. Linda Grange walked the beat they were, generally,
warmly greeted by residents and store owners, although there was some
muttered comments from young men who seemed less than delighted to see them.

Grange, who made a point of saying hello to people on the sidewalks, said
it's taken time to win over the affection of the street, noting that police
in uniform can present an intimidating presence. She doesn't wear
sunglasses in order to make eye contact with residents. "I feel we're kind
of getting there. We're making some headway," she said.

Rolls said he is next turning his sights on historic Oppenheimer Park in
the Downtown Eastside, which has been taken over by drug dealers. "The plan
is to take back the park," he said.