LINDSAY NO LONGER A 'SLEEPY LITTLE TOWN'

The events of June 22 shocked many Lindsay residents and garnered
headlines with national media, but did not come as a huge surprise to
area police. Fortunately, Peterboroough Const. Keith Calderwood is
recovering nicely from gunshot wounds he sustained when officers
raided a Georgian Street residence Wednesday morning, but in truth it
was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

According to Kawartha Lakes Police Service police Chief John Hagarty,
when it comes to policing everywhere these days, "there is an
escalation of violence that we're dealing with" on top of an
"escalation of weapons that are being used."

"That's just the society that we're in right now," stated Chief
Hagarty during a press conference held later on in the day of
Wednesday's incident.

While many in the neighbourhood where the incident occurred see their
surroundings as "quiet," others noted drug activity has increased in
recent years.

In fact, it was less than five years ago - Aug. 25, 2006 to be exact -
that a local police officer shot and wounded an individual during a
drug search of another Georgian Street home. The individual recovered
and the officer was cleared of any wrongdoing by the province's
Special Investigations Unit.

It is naive to believe our 'sleepy little town' doesn't have a drug
problem.

A decade ago, a former co-worker of mine caused quite a stir in the
community when he penned a three-part series regarding the growing use
and sale of crack cocaine and other substances in Lindsay.

Many individuals contacted the office concerned over the articles,
discounting the facts reported and accusing both the newspaper and the
reporter of sensationalism; all in the name of selling copies.

The reporter's motives aside, there was no disputing the facts. They
were provided by the local police service and supported by comments
made by former police Chief Randy Martin. There is no disputing the
fact drug use, if not more prevalent, is definitely more visible than
it was just 10 years ago.

There's also no disputing the fact we live in a much more violent
area.

It doesn't all relate to Toronto either.

MyKawartha,com doesn't post every incident, but several articles come
up using the search engine and statement 'weapons seized,' dating
between April 2 and June 7. That includes the April 14 incident were
another a Lindsay officer was stabbed while executing a drug warrant
at a Kent Street West residence.

Unfortunately, there's no one single solution and, as a result, change
won't come quickly - no matter how many police officers are stabbed or
shot.