DRUG RAID WAS POORLY EXECUTED

We have many concerns about the incident that occurred on July 20th. We
were both very angry at the way the local RCMP and the other supporting
forces handled what was supposed to be a drug bust. We are very upset that
the RCMP admitted to not finding what they were looking for but offered no
sign of being sympathetic with regards to what we had to endure as innocent
residents. We were offered no apology, no explanation, and calls that the
RCMP received from our concerned family members were never returned.

We are still extremely confused regarding the lack of investigating that
occurred concerning this matter. After receiving a tip, they acted with no
investigation. We believe that no matter how convincing a "source" is there
should always be some sort of investigation or surveillance of the
"target." Especially when the target is a single mother with three
children, all under the age of seven. Even 12 hours of surveillance would
have saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars. Money that was wasted, not
to mention the trauma endured by all the children that day.

We want to make it known that no counselling or children's services were
offered to us at any time, although Constable Graham Wallace clearly stated
that they "always" involve them when children are involved, in an article
that appeared in this paper. The children we were shown no consideration.
We were forced to walk down a street with broken glass on it with no shoes
on. We were not allowed to get clothes for the baby. We were left to wait
on a lawn for two hours with no concern for the children or the children's
welfare. Some of the children hadn't eaten yet but we were not allowed to
feed them. Any parent would have been ashamed of how we were forced to
treat our children, but we had no choice in the matter. Even though we
voiced our concerns about the children to the local RCMP officers.

As for the Emergency Response Team, they were very uninformed and
unorganized. They were unaware of any children in the house, and even
though they posed no threat to the officers, they carelessly aimed their
weapons at the children's eye level. This was not an "awesome experience
for everyone involved," as Sergeant Georgie Kenzie stated in an article in
the Robson Valley Times. Her words showed a lack of intelligence and
compassion for innocent members of her community.

In our opinion, the five children involved were abused by the police raid.
Is this what we are to expect from our police force. A group that has sworn
to serve and protect the taxpayers that pay their salaries.

Sure, it is important to keep drugs off of our streets, but when a mistake
is made the right thing to do is to admit it and apologize. This was never
done, and it is a disgrace to RCMP everywhere.

Tina Hauch and Veronica Paupst

Valemount, BC