Neighbours Vow To Take Their Street Back

'It's right here, in your face,' residents say of drug dealing on
downtown block

Kamloops - Threats to life and property have residents of a downtown
street on the verge of taking the law into their own hands against
drug dealers who have moved into the neighbourhood.

"I will not tolerate crack being sold on my property where my four
kids live," resident Kerri Gold said Thursday.

What angers homeowners on the 600 block of St. Paul Street is that
the drug trade is carried out in clear view of the city's RCMP
detachment, with little response from police.

But RCMP maintain investigators are well aware of the problem and
will take action.

Gold and boyfriend Christopher Daigle have spent the last three
months watching drug deals outside their home and in the alley behind it.

The couple has chased drug users and prostitutes out of their
backyard on several occasions. One time Gold was so furious she
trained a garden hose on an addict who was smoking up.

She said the problem didn't exist until renters moved into a home on
Battle Street earlier this summer. Then all number of sketchy people
appeared day and night.

On an average day, Gold counts 100 people purchasing drugs in the
neighbourhood. Residents have even decoded the system of how the
drugs are sold.

Gold said dealers whistle to let buyers know where to make their
purchase. Two whistles mean meet in the alley behind the 7-Eleven on
Seymour Street, one long whistle indicates the parking lot, and three
whistles say the alley between Battle and St. Paul.

"There's a couple of other whistles that I haven't figured out yet," said Gold.

Gold's neighbour, Brenda, who would not give her last name, said the
exchange of drugs and money is discreet, with the buyer and seller
simply walking by each other.

"If you hear a whistle and look in the direction of the whistling,
you see a deal," she said.

If either party notices, your life is threatened. And it doesn't
matter if other people are around to hear it, said Brenda.

"It's right there, in your face, and it isn't safe," she said.

Numerous complaints have been made to the RCMP, but the culprits
usually move on by the time police arrive. Gold said one officer who
did respond chastised her for spraying the druggie with her hose.

"He told me I could be charged with assault. I thought doing drugs
was illegal," she said.

Daigle said enough threats have been made against his family that he
stays up at night to watch out for trouble.

"It's just getting sick," said Daigle.

RCMP Sgt. Scott Wilson said the detachment's drug section is aware of
the problem and working toward a solution.

The worst thing residents can do is take the law into their own hands.

Wilson said confronting people under the influence of drugs is
dangerous. "The best thing to do is phone the police. We do not
encourage property owners to aggressively deal with people on their
property," he said.

"You don't know who they are or what they've got. You don't know if
they have a weapon."

Gold said the renters on Battle Street were evicted Wednesday and
officers did hourly patrols through the neighbourhood that night. It
was the first quiet evening in weeks.

St. Paul Street resident Shelaigh Garson is holding a neighbourhood
meeting Sunday for residents who want to work on a solution. She said
an RCMP officer has promised to attend.

"We don't know what else to do," said Garson.

Anyone who witnesses drug activity is asked to phone Kamloops RCMP at
250-828-3000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.