TRADERS MAY ACT OVER HEROIN

Collingwood traders are considering hiring security guards to patrol Smith
Street in a bid to curb illicit drug use and lift the strip's image as a
safe area.

The proposal was to be put to traders last night at a meeting to discuss
ways to revitalise the street.

The president of the Smith Street Traders Network, Mr Paul Callanan, said
the drug problem had affected local trading.

Mr Callanan said most of the street's 400 retailers would continue to lobby
for a greater police presence, but had not ruled out hiring private
security officers.

He said that since a police blitz on heroin trafficking in May, the drug
problem had decreased and morale among traders had improved. ``But we
recognise that long-term measures need to occur, and it is not just a
matter of whacking a few extra police on the street,'' he said.

Other initiatives the network considered were creating an alcohol-free
zone, better parking facilities, improving street infrastructure and
lobbying local government for more resources to fight the drug problem, he
said.

A local trader, Mr David Moore, said he was prepared to pay $20 a week for
a private security company to ``keep an eye on the street''. [pe``It is a
matter of life and death for the traders here .AEth.AEth. people are too
scared to shop in Smith Street,'' he said.] ``Some days you see people
dealing in the doorways. We just can't open the shop in the evening because
we wouldn't feel safe,'' he said.

A City of Yarra councillor, Steve Watson, said he was disappointed the
network was considering hiring a private security firm. ``Illicit
drug-dealing is obviously an issue in Smith Street, as in other parts of
Melbourne, but ... there is nothing a private firm can do that Victoria
Police cannot.''

The business manager of Royal Guard Protective, Mr Michael Hodge, said
discussions with the network were ``progressing well'' and security
officers should ``definitely be patrolling the street by the end of the
year''.

The commander of Police Division 2, Superintendent Ian Winn, said police
often patrolled Smith Street and the drug problem had abated since the
blitz.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson