POLICE TARGET WASHROOM SHELTER

Vancouver police are running into a concrete wall - literally - as they
attempt to crimp the illicit drug trade in the city's Downtown Eastside
area.

The concrete walls and wingshaped roof that shelter a public washroom
located at the corner of Main and Hastings beside Carnegie Centre are
serving as a "beacon" for pushers, according to Inspector Chris Beach.

In a report that went Wednesday to the Vancouver police board, Beach said
members of the Downtown Eastside Extraordinary Policing unit have been
urging the city for more than two years to have the shelter razed.

Beach said there is no single solution to problems associated with illicit
drugs, but he said something as big and obvious as the shelter should be
simple to deal with.

Drug pushers love it because the roof protects them from the elements, and
the walls that enclose the stairway leading below-surface to the washrooms
shield them from view as they make transactions with customers.

Police hate it because, unless they're standing directly alongside they
can't see what's going on and find it more difficult to gather evidence and
make arrests.

Two years ago, at the urging of Constable Jill Fedirchuk, the police
department suggested to the city that the structure be torn down - but
found its recommendation mired in the bureaucracy at city hall.

Meanwhile, Beach said, the shelter provides an unparalleled training ground
for people entering the illicit drug business - and an opportunity for
immediate success with minimal risk of arrest.

Beach said in an interview that police frustration is growing as the
venue's reputation continues to grow and the outcry to clean up the mess
grows even louder.

"There are washrooms that are used fairly frequently, so we are told, and
so that roof is necessary to keep the steps dry and safe for people who
choose to use them," Beach said.

"We understand how complicated this seems to be, but at the same time we're
left with the reality that this area is used to a great extent by people
involved in the illicit drug trade."

In a "buy and bust" operation at the shelter in late July, police charged
75 different people with trafficking everything from Tylenol 3s to heroin
and cocaine.

"Now we're noticing the phenomenon that we have needles stuck in trees and
all kinds of things down there. It's really quite pathetic."

Beach said police are under increasing pressure from the public and from
politicians to "intervene in an effective way" at the site.

But instead of seeing quick action, he said, the department has been mired
in discussions about everything from the dignity of local residents to the
needs of transit users waiting for the bus.

According to a report that went from the city manager's office to city
council in January, Hastings Street has been taken over in recent years "by
a younger, rougher crowd attracted by a very active drug trade.

"The recent drug trade, and the criminal activity supporting it, has
brought many new problems to the Downtown Eastside. Stores have closed and
buildings have been boarded up and left vacant," the report stated.

"The street-level businesses which remain often exist solely to support the
drug trade.

Increased injection drug use and needle-sharing have contributed to an HIV
and Hepatitis C epidemic.

"These illegal activities and drug trade have also attracted people from
other municipalities into the Downtown Eastside who are taking advantage of
the vulnerable populations who live there."