SEX, DRUGS AND PAY PHONES

Those Booths Have Become Magnets For Sleaze In The City. But Removing
Them Isn't Easy

The rot gut and cheap plonk have been pulled from Mike Christison's
shelves, his hope being that the lack of bargain booze will keep the
local low-lifes from his liquor store.

But it's the public telephone across the street from the Inglewood
Wine Market that's the real draw for undesirables: The 9 Ave. S.E.
phone booth is a magnet for addicts, dealers and prostitutes, and the
bane of businesses for blocks around.

"I'd estimate 95% of the clientele using that phone are connected to
prostitution or drug deals," said Christison, who opened his wine
shop on the corner of 9 Ave. and 11 St. a decade ago.

"They show up out of nowhere, and come to use that phone, and within
a few minutes, the dealers arrive, or the hookers show up -- I can
look straight out my window and see what's happening, and it's not cool."

One ill-used phone booth and one angry business owner do not a news story make.

But an inner-city full of outraged merchants calling for the removal
of old-fashioned pay phones certainly does -- and that's the growing
trend in downtown's shopping districts, where phone booths are a
focal point for crime.

The main reason: Pay phones provide a means of communication and a
place of exchange for a street addict too broke to afford a cellphone
or home address.

One quick call, and the dealer will drive up, make a sale, and
disappear into the night -- without constant police surveillance of
the troublesome phone booth, it's a difficult crime to prevent.

Public phones are also untraceable when it comes to identifying the
person placing the call, making them even more desirable for drug and
sex trade customers, who might not want a record of the call on their
own phone. The dial-and-deal problem is well-known at City Hall.

Ald. Joe Ceci says phone booths have become a headache throughout the
inner city, with unsavoury characters loitering around the phones,
driving pedestrians and potential customers away.

"You hear about a lot of things going on around phone booths, whether
its drug calls or the sex trade," said Ceci.

The Ward 9 alderman said he's heard complaints from businesses in
both Bridgeland and across the river in Inglewood and Ramsay, where
the drugs and prostitution scenario is repeated.

Ceci is working with impacted merchants to establish a clear record
of criminal activity around phone booths, to help convince the
telephone companies of the problem.

He says there is a growing desire to have the pay phones cut off for
good, and Inglewood has even formed an official inner-city coalition
dealing with "the use of phone booths for illicit purposes."

"The communities are looking at strategies to see if the phones can
be removed," said Ceci.

While pay phones are a private business, at least one of the
companies operating the phone booths in Calgary is willing to discuss
changes with concerned business owners.

Telus spokesman Chris Gerritsen said there are a number of possible
solutions, from removing the entire booth, to restricting the phone
to emergency-only calls after a certain hour, say 9 p.m.

"We don't remove phone booths arbitrarily, but we are willing to meet
with the businesses, police and community leaders to determine if
there's an issue with a particular location and to work on a
solution," said Gerritsen.

While many people rely on cellphones, Gerritsen said there is still a
market for pay phones, and removing them completely would be a
disservice to legitimate users.

Ramsay Community Association president Judy Hellevang says there are
serious issues with phone booths and crime, and she says the physical
shelter provided by glass-and-steel is another draw for addicts and the like.

"They're used as shelters for drug deals and prostitutes -- a sentry
box is a good description," said Hellevang.

Meanwhile, back at the Inglewood Wine Market, Christison says he is
determined to see the call boxes banned from inner-city Calgary.

"That's what I've been pushing for -- I want them gone."