COST OF DRUG CRIMES HIGH: MULLAN

It doesn't pay financially to shut down crack houses and marijuana
grow homes, but dividends to the community far outweigh the bottom
line, Hamilton's top cop says.

Police Chief Brian Mullan told a McMaster University forum on economic
crime prevention last week that it costs an average of $8,500 to bust
a grow-op and hundreds of thousands to seize a crack house.

Since all proceeds go to the Crown, police can never expect to recoup
their bills, he said. Police costs include meticulous documentation to
justify seizing properties like the Sandbar, a notorious crack house
once visible from Mullan's Central Station office.

The scene of two murders in the preceding five years, the bar and a
$10,000 bank account were surrendered in March 2005 following a court
order under the Civil Remedies Act, a process that required police
provide a synthesis of 10 years of problems there -23 documents that
were nearly the height of the investigator when stacked together.

Chief Mullan said police "didn't see a nickel" of the $309,000 in
seized assets, although the province did provide $7,000 to the
International Village Business Improvement Area to help restore the
neighbourhood's image.

Police also seized a Beaconsfield Drive crack house on the East
Mountain owned by the same people in November 2007 under the same
legislation, confiscating an additional $20,000 in cash and cheques.
"When you look at the cost-benefit to policing, it costs us a lot more
than we get out of it financially, but it's all about the way we're
able to live within our communities," Chief Mullan said.

"It reduces the glamour, it reduces the motivation towards illegal
activity that in this case we feel is economically driven," he said,
noting the impact of the Sandbar's forfeiture was felt
immediately.

"The signs of the kind of unlawful activity that was permeating from
this building in the downtown core were significantly reduced. The
drug dealing in the building itself had stopped. And yes, the view
from my office had a different look."

Chief Mullan cited one other success story -the closure of downtown's
Up In Smoke Cafe, which openly flouted marijuana laws for two years
before being closed after an April 2006 raid. But he said police face
bigger challenges when confronting other types of economic crimes,
like telephone and Internet fraud.

He said the latter are particularly tricky because they are
international in scope, making it costly both to investigate on
foreign soil and bring witnesses to Canada to testify. Extradition,
the difficulty in enforcing restitution awards abroad and the
difference in laws and police priorities and abilities in other
countries also encumber efforts to prosecute such crimes, he said.

Chief Mullan said police must continue to push for better legislation
and build partnerships with other law agencies "to close the loop" on
such cases.

But he said although common sense remains a key skill in fighting such
crimes, he expects more emphasis in the future on hiring recruits with
specialized backgrounds like accounting and sciences.

"As crime becomes more sophisticated, we will need to invest in
greater degrees in training. We are prepared to provide the training,
but it's always best if people come with a certain mindset and skills
as they're walking in the door."