HAS THE CRACKDOWN WORKED?

Residents Feel More Like Coming Out On The Street And Business Is
Noticeably Improved

YES

The attack on Sergeant Tony Zanatta came out of nowhere as he walked down
Hastings Street late Thursday.

A tall, scruffy man banged his shoulder against the police officer and pushed.

"Good to see you," Zanatta told his attacker, shoving back a little before
pulling back and extending his hand.

Grinning, the man shook hands and walked away, waving goodbye.

The man, once a familiar face in the Downtown Eastside, was one of a number
of men and women whose reappearance on the streets is one of the most
positive things police say have come out of their crackdown on drug dealers
in the area of Main and Hastings.

In the last few years, the increased number of dealers on the streets made
the area too scary for many of the area's residents, including the
alcoholics and street workers, Zanatta said.

"The people who live in the apartments above the streets are coming back
down," Zanatta said. "Over the last three months, we've shown people who
live and work down here that we haven't abandoned them."

Paul Barker, the manager of Save-on-Meat on Hastings, said the increased
police presence in the area has meant increased sales.

"We've gone up 15 per cent in the last three months and I know it's all
related to the way people think of this area," Barker said. "They think
it's safe down here again. It's gone from downtown Beirut to a viable
community."

There is still drug-related activity on the streets, Barker said, but there
is less, it's less noticeable and it's less in-your-face, as he describes it.

Next door to the meat shop, about a dozen individual vendors are selling
old shoes, books and even a television set in a parking lot, another new
addition to the area.

Three months before the crackdown, stolen items were constantly being
fenced in the area and the money used to purchase drugs. Now the items
being sold are mostly stuff retrieved from dumpsters or abandoned on the
street.

When the police increased enforcement, Rory Nymark, who works at
Save-on-Meat, said it was like a vacation. "Coming to work didn't feel like
going into a war zone and that was a huge change."

Resident Jeff Rozon, who has lived in the Downtown Eastside for seven
years, said the increased police presence is welcome. "It's noticeable how
much difference it makes," he said. "I think they should be here and
council should fund it. The idea of law enforcement here is definitely needed."