NEIGHBOURS OF SUSPECTED DRUG HOUSE CELEBRATE ITS CLOSURE

Walter and Eleanor Hickie are looking forward to some peace and quiet
for the next three months after a suspected drug house in their
neighbourhood was boarded up Friday under the province's Safer
Communities and Neighbourhoods Act.

"I think it is wonderful and about time," Eleanor Hickie said of the
home at 6707 32nd Ave. "There has been drugs going on there and noise,
people coming and going 24/7.We called police many times."

The house had been a problem for the last 18 years and the owner never
appeared to care that his neighbours were concerned or that they could
see what was going on, said Hickie.

"What really got to us was the young girls, teenagers, who were
constantly coming and going. I didn't know how many people lived
there. The only good thing I can say is no children ever went there."

The SCAN Act came into effect Oct. 1, 2008, creating a new sheriff's
unit to investigate public complaints about properties used for
illegal activities associated with gangs, drugs and prostitution.
Since it came into effect, the province's two SCAN units have received
402 complaints, and successfully resolved 270 of them.

Lee Newton, inspector of the northern Alberta SCAN unit based in
Edmonton, said the home that was shut down Friday came to their
attention in November. After conducting an investigation to confirm
the complaints, SCAN officials tried to resolve the issue informally
by informing the owner several times, including with a hand-delivered
warning letter.

When the complaints continued, the unit went to Court of Queen's Bench
last week to obtain a Community Safety Order to shut the house down
for 90 days.

That order was executed Friday morning. The owner was told to vacate
and the home was boarded up and enclosed with a security fence.

The SCAN unit has obtained three safety orders for Edmonton properties
since it was launched, but Friday was the first time a property was
shut down, Newton said.

The owner knew what was coming and left without incident, he said.

"The property remains closed for 90 days. We don't take ownership of
the property. At the end of 90 days, the property is opened up again
and the keys returned to the owner," Newton said.

Booting the occupants out of a problem premises is used as a last
resort.