DRUGS FUEL CITY BREAK-INS

Windsor police believe a rise in drug addiction is fuelling what one
detective calls the worst local rash of break-and-enter thefts in his
28 years on the force.

"The more bad guys we lock up the more we see we're dealing with
drugs," said Det. George Levack of the force's break-and-enter squad.
"They're very much into drugs.

"We've seen it all, where they need the money to get their drugs and
where they're high doing their stuff."

Levack says for the most part these criminals ? impulsive, not
professional ? seem to draw their inspiration from such dubious
sources as crack, cocaine, marijuana and other street drugs.

Meanwhile, the police feel so concerned that they are publicly warning
citizens through flyers and the media to take precautions.

Between Jan. 1 and March 15, 734 break and enters were reported ? more
than 10 a day.

Levack said for years his department would handle between 100 and 150
B&Es a month. But after noticing a rise in December, his division
processed more than 300 in January alone.

Other departments have pitched in, since the load has more than
doubled in a matter of months. Auto thefts for the same period have
risen 60 per cent, perhaps since the thieves need some way to
transport their loot.

Though he does not have statistics, Charlie Baird, an addiction
counsellor the last 12 years at the Brentwood Recovery Home for
Alcoholics, agrees that narcotics are gaining ground.

"We definitely see a rise," Baird said of counsellors at the 150-bed
Brentwood Home. "No. 1, we're full. And we're not always full. We have
to say no to some people, which we rarely do."

Furthermore, Baird says that lately, especially with 20-somethings,
though he has seen laid-off skilled-trades workers lapse into
addiction, that drugs seem to go hand-in-hand with crime.

"Most of the people that come in with drugs are up on some sort of
criminal charges or are on probation," Baird said.

"Some of these people, it takes them nothing to have a $400, $500,
$600 a day habit."

Baird said cocaine seems the worst lately, with heroin and ecstasy not
far behind.

According to a Statistics Canada report released Feb. 23, drug crime
across Canada has risen 42 per cent since the early 1990s ? now at a
20-year high.

Baird can't say for sure why drugs seem to be finding more favour,
though he can't help but wonder about the economy, since prices rise
but social assistance doesn't keep pace.

"Unemployment is up," he said. "Many people can't afford rent
anymore.

"With what the government is giving, for sure nobody on welfare can
afford rent. That's the truth.

"These people have a lot of fear and are drinking it away or drugging
it away."

Meanwhile, Levack said while drug use and related crime increases, the
courts seem to be reducing sentences despite that the maximum penalty
allowed in the Canadian Criminal Code for break and enter is life in
prison.

"Upon sentencing, we're asking the courts to consider the
break-and-enter problem that we are experiencing in Windsor," Levack
said.

"We don't want to turn this into a fenced-store-front community. But
unless we get a handle on this, that's what Windsor is going to be."

THWARTING THIEVES

* Report suspicious activity

* When not home, make it look like you are

* Put lights and stereos on timers

* Have a neighbour pick up your deliveries

* Ask a neighbour to park car in your driveway

* When at home, lock doors and windows

* Use an alarm system

* Store high-value items in solid closets

* Engrave items with social security number

* Keep your property lit at night

* Don't keep money in your shop till

* Post a sign saying "No money on premises"