PUBLIC CONTRIBUTES TO PROGRAM'S SUCCESS

LACOMBE- While the progress of a program that relies heavily on the
involvement of the public can be difficult to measure, the Lacombe
Police Service is hailing the first year of their Report Activities
Indicating Drugs program, (RAID), as a success.

In an effort to press home a no tolerance stance for drugs in the
community, Lacombe Police launched the program - built on the success
of the Neighbourhood Watch program - last July by distributing
information cards that allow residents to report any and all
activities that may be indicative of drugs. The partnership with the
community is paying off.

"When we first introduced the RAID program we thought it could be
another tool in our arsenal and that's exactly what it has turned out
to be," said Cst. Steve Murray. "We gave the community, through
anonymity, an opportunity to help solve problems in their area and
we've used information from the public in conjunction with other
tools to form investigations, which have lead to the execution of
warrants and arrests. And those are successes."

At the onset, the hope for the program was that the public would
become involved, as the community often knows their residential areas
best. When neighbours see something out of character for their street
or unusual behaviour at a nearby house, the program encourages them
to record what they see and submit that information to the police as
soon as possible so they can follow up and take appropriate action.

The program stemmed from results gathered from a police survey sent
out to all town residents last year. Residents expressed concern over
drug use in the community and indicated they wanted to see increased
police activity to combat the use and the trafficking of drugs in the area.

"The objectives of the program are to have residents report what they
see so the police can react and therefore reduce the problems," added
Cst. Murray. "Having the public involvement is a huge benefit to us.
I think we're most successful when we have that partnership and that
we struggle without it. One of the founding principles of modern
police forces is the idea that the public are the police and the
police are the public. We need to work together."