POLICE VOLUNTEERS TARGET TEENS' HANGOUT IN CAT WOODS

It was quite a haul for a regular Saturday night.

A "target policing" blitz recently in Cataraqui Woods turned up
drugs, booze, knives and a bag of stolen goods when 18 Kingston
Police Community Volunteers scoured parks and wooded areas June 24.

The blitz is part of an effort to curb mischief complaints and
allegations about young people hanging out in the park and using drugs.

But it's not an allegation anymore.

"I know they're doing drugs in there," says Mike Hanna, a team leader
with the volunteers. "We took drugs out."

The volunteers conducted the unannounced target policing blitz at 6
p.m. that night on bicycle and foot patrol.

A fully equipped command post was set up at Cataraqui Public School.

Volunteers discovered a few dozen homemade bongs, several homemade
drug pipes, a full bag of what appeared to be marijuana, numerous
beer cans, liquor bottles, four bicycles, lighters, clothing, tools,
scissors, knives, and a quantity of new personal property.

"They had quite a set-up in there," explains Hanna, with several
benches that could hold as many as 15 people in a clearing and
shelves built into trees.

Volunteers Debi Petrie and Bill Cawlishaw documented the haul with photos.

The drugs and drug paraphernalia were destroyed by police and an
effort is being made to locate the owner of the stolen goods.

Hanna says complaints about mischief surfaced last summer, too, when
houses were egged and tree branches were thrown into pools. But it
was getting worse this year, he says, and so police and volunteers
stepped up patrols.

Citizens appreciate the effort, he says, with residents coming out to
personally thank the volunteers for their efforts.

Kevin George, the councillor for the district, also thanked the
volunteers and informed them of some of the concerns he's been
hearing from residents.

Hanna says it is impossible for Kingston Police to be in the area all
the time and that's where the community volunteers come in.

"We patrol there in unmarked cars all the time," he says of the force
of about 55 volunteers. "We also go out on bikes and on foot. If we
see something we can handle, a mischief call or noise complaint, we do it."

The bigger incidents, he says, are turned over to Kingston Police.

"You can't stop the kids from hanging out," says Hanna, "but you can
keep them moving."

Hanna says the wooded area is massive, with many trails and paths.

"The best defence is natural surveillance," he points out, explaining
that residents should take notice when they use this park themselves,
for walking or taking out pets.

If troublemakers are constantly seeing people walk through their
hideaways they will soon leave, he adds.

The risk of being recognized is also not to be underestimated.

"If they think someone they know or their parents know will see them,
chances are they won't stay there."

Also, if residents spot large numbers of people going into wooded
areas or carrying in items such as chairs, coolers, or backpacks,
they should call police.

Hanna says the volunteers will be busy this summer, keeping up their
patrols in Cataraqui Woods in marked and unmarked vehicles as well as
having large-scale target patrols in other problem areas.

"We're coming to a neighbourhood near you."