CITY COUNCIL TORPEDOES CRIME-CRACKDOWN FUNDS

A day after Vancouver police began Project Torpedo, its crackdown on crime
in the Downtown Eastside, Vancouver council refused to pay for it.

Chief-Const. Jamie Graham had asked for an increase of 27 full-time
civilian employees at a cost of $1.3 million a year, plus $2.3 million for
Project Torpedo until the end of the year and $75,000 for additional
night-time security at 312 Main Street.

What he got was six more civilian staffers and the $75,000.

Insp. Doug Lepard said Project Torpedo will continue for the three months
for which the department has resources for it.

After that, he said, "we will have to re-evaluate it."

Dozens of protesters packed the council chamber before council's decision,
and attacked Mayor Larry Campbell for not moving faster on the
"four-pillars" proposal to fight drug abuse. They were incensed that
council was considering giving police more funding for enforcement -- one
of the four pillars -- but not acting on the others, which are prevention,
treatment and harm reduction.

"Murder! Murder!" "Liar! Liar! All Liars!" the protesters chanted. They had
left the chamber by the time council voted against funding Operation Torpedo.

In the Downtown Eastside, Insp. Robert Taylor displayed the criminal
records of 19 people arrested for their involvement in the trade of stolen
goods.

Most compelling was the record of one addict who has 82 convictions, as
well as 40 stays of proceedings, meaning he has been before the courts 122
times.

"This person is at the top end of the scale, but he represents a lot of
people," said Taylor, holding up a rap sheet taller than he was. "This
person is a crime machine -- he works the street and commits crimes every day.

"He's addicted to narcotics, and he's been in and out of the system for 20
years."

Police rounded up 32 of 162 suspected drug traffickers on the Project
Torpedo list Monday, the first day of the crackdown.