POLICE CHIEF LISTENS TO CONCERNS OF PICKERING RESIDENTS

PICKERING - Monique Goudet moved to Pickering to get away from the
violence and illegal behaviour of her neighbourhood in Toronto - she
now feels her children aren't much safer in Glendale.

"I came to Durham to get away from Markham (Road) and Eglinton
(Avenue) when I heard a gunshot...I moved from one ghetto to another,"
she said.

Ms. Goudet was one of about 60 residents who came out to share their
concerns with Durham Regional Police Chief Vernon White at a town hall
meeting Wednesday evening. Most of the people in attendance were from
the Glendale neighbourhood near Liverpool and Kingston roads who
wanted to discuss the concerns they have with people drinking, and
doing and selling drugs in the Pine Creek ravine.

Ms. Goudet said she ends up having to call the police every Saturday
night because of the people hanging out under the bridge and causing a
disturbance in the area.

"We can't even let our kids go out to play without checking the grass
for bottles," she said, adding she has found broken glass and used
condoms in her yard.

"We're picking up (marijuana) roaches off our pathway," she said.

Sue and Doug Anderson have lived in the area since 1979.

"We've always had a bit of a problem with where we're at on the
bridge, but they're getting older and bolder and louder," she said.

A month ago three shots were fired right behind their house.

"They were not fireworks," Mr. Anderson said.

They say things have been better in the last month due to an increased
police presence. Some attribute the decrease in activity to the cooler
weather and that school is back in session, but the Andersons said
people continued to hang out in the area last winter.

They were glad to have the opportunity to share their concerns with
police, but they believe the City of Pickering should be dealing with
some of the issues.

Ms. Anderson wanted to know from the police what the community could
do to help.

"What can we do as citizens to fix this up?" she asked.

The town hall was one of eight the chief is holding across Durham
Region, with meetings in Uxbridge and Ajax to take place Oct. 23 and
Oct. 24, respectively.

"I believe in the community having an opportunity to speak to the
police about issues," Chief White told the crowd.

He talked about the police needing to come up with a new service
delivery model.

"We're trying to change the way we do business in terms of our
boundaries in order to better respond to our calls," he said.

Chief White would like to see the force become more proactive; he said
currently 25 per cent of its work is proactive and in order to truly
follow a community-based policing model he would like to see that
number rise to 60 per cent.

In an interview following the discussion, Chief White said the issues
he heard from Pickering residents were not that different from those
in other areas.

"We are hearing some of the same issues across the region," he said.
"Parks is a big issue."

He said the police were aware of the problems in the Glendale area and
they have increased patrols under a new project in the past month.