DOWNTOWN CRACKDOWN DRAWS FIRE

Critics Say Increased Enforcement Will Move The Problem, Not Solve It

People who work with Calgary's down and out say they're being
dehumanized as part of an effort to clean up the downtown -- the
homeless are being ticketed for sitting on benches under
anti-loitering bylaws, a dramatic advertising campaign is depicting
panhandlers as addicts, and overall police presence is expected to
more than double.

In response to a perceived surge in crime, drug use and aggressive
panhandling, the city plans to pump $15.7 million into a downtown
strategy that will include enhancing police presence in the core.
This will translate to 30 police officers -- up from the 12 or so
currently on patrol -- as well as a "rapid deployment team" to be
available on short notice and beefed-up transit security.

But the emphasis on law enforcement has drawn criticism from those
who feel it could ultimately work against the city, undermining
long-term efforts to get at the root of the problem.

"I think it will have a significant effect, but not for the
positive," says Dermot Baldwin, the outspoken executive director of
the Calgary Drop-In Centre. "In my years of working, I have never
seen an addict cured because he has been punished and put in prison.
I have never seen a mentally ill person come out of prison feeling cured."

Baldwin says the Calgary police are issuing nearly five times the
number of citations against the homeless as they were three years
ago, which he points out is an expensive approach.

"Each court process costs the public more. I think they are
misinforming the public of the true cost. Meanwhile, the Calgary
Urban Project Society is having a hard time finding a place (and) we
can't build a sobering centre. There is zero understanding on the
part of the people making this decision."

According to Doug King, the chair of Justice Studies at Mount Royal
College, increasing police presence and enforcement could very well
clean up the troubled areas of downtown, but it will also displace the problem.

"The consequence, from my perspective, is that it will just move the
problem somewhere else in the city," says King. "Evidence of that is
how the police cleaned up Olympic Plaza -- it moved to crack corner.
It is a well-known, well-researched fact that when you have crimes of
social disorder, you can never eliminate the problem through enforcement."

While moving the problem might be good for businesses in the core, it
could be bad for Ald. Joe Ceci and his voters, who will likely find
themselves on the receiving end of the migration.

"I've been forthright in my concerns in that regard. I indicated to
the mayor that I represent communities that ring downtown -- just
cracking down and moving people along isn't going to work for me,"
says Ceci. "I need measures to show that they are not displacing the problem."

Ald. Druh Farrell, whose riding includes the troubled East Village,
supports the downtown initiative.

"I've watched the situation deteriorate in the last five years, and
it is a dramatic deterioration," says Farrell, citing London as an
example of a city that has made significant improvements in crime
reduction and public cleanliness. "What precipitated the (London)
cleanup was a crisis. We don't want it to have to get to that."

The Calgary Police Service went through budget and personnel cuts in
the mid '90s, and although the number of officers per capita has not
fully recovered, King says overall crime rates in Calgary and across
Canada have either decreased or remained stable over the last 15 years.

But he expects crime rates to increase over the next five or six
years due to demographic shifts. The number of males reaching the 16
to 24 age bracket -- by far the most violent demographic -- is on the
rise. An increase in police presence, however, will not necessarily
be an effective counter.

"I think the key to recognize is, when it comes to a violent crime
rate, most crime happens in the heat of the moment, and it is hard to
regulate those kinds of situations," King says. "In many instances,
the best society can do is provide support for the victims and take
the offender away from the scene...."

If crime has remained stable, what is fuelling the city's fear of the
street population? Baldwin says it is the result of a calculated
effort to dehumanize the down and out.

"There is a definite plan, not announced as such, with a lot of
co-operation with the downtown business association, the mayor's
office and aldermen, to create an atmosphere of misinformation,
painting an entire population with the same ugly brush," he adds.

The Calgary Downtown Association's advertising campaign, which
dissuades people from giving to panhandlers and encourages donations
to charitable organizations instead, hasn't helped dispel negative
stereotypes -- specifically the billboard in which a man shoots up
with a syringe full of change.

"The dramatic advertising, with the message being if you give money
to panhandlers you're helping them to die, is in no way fixing
anything because people are not going to turn around and write me a
cheque for $2," says Baldwin.

"They are making it sound as if the whole city is going to hell in a
handbasket, causing people to mistrust and hate the homeless. Do you
really have to hate addicted people? They are victims of violence and
street gangs."

Baldwin is not the only social worker who feels this way. John Rook,
CEO of the Salvation Army Centre of Hope, also believes the
advertising campaign, as well as the rhetoric used by politicians and
officials, is harmful.

"All of us in this whole sector, the addiction sector, say we are
offended by the ads because they paint an inaccurate picture of the
people were trying to help," says Rook. "Same with when the mayor
uses the word 'blight' in speeches."

So is the downtown strategy a true crackdown? Not according to Ceci.
While the increase in police presence promises to be noticeable, the
former social worker is confident that the mayor's plan will go
beyond law enforcement.

"The plan is more than that," says Ceci. "The other parts will work
with social agencies in terms of crime prevention."

While full details have yet to be revealed, it has been established
that $5 million in municipal funds will be set aside for affordable
housing, $5 million will go towards recreation, and $15.7 million
will be used for the downtown strategy. The plans will be funded out
of the $25.7 million in tax revenue the city received from the province.