POLICE TO CRACKDOWN ON CRIME ON THE WFN RESERVE

The public can expect the Westbank First Nation to take a harder line
on criminal activity on the reserve in the coming months.

Band councillor Mickey Werstuik said he is expecting more police
coverage on the reserve, and members also want to see tougher action
for people engaged in any criminal activity.

"We need to help them with conviction and prosecution and getting
victim impact statements," Werstuik said.

Werstuik's comments came as a result of a day-long forum on drugs and
crime on the reserve.

Forty people, including members of the band's advisory committee and
the RCMP, attended the meeting with hopes of making changes on the reserve.

Werstuik said the band council had hoped the "drug free zone" policy
would have been more effective when it was put into place on much of
the two reserves nearly five years ago.

Instead, he said it's been largely ineffectual.

"The idea was that people would be punished to the fullest extend of
the law, but it hasn't happened," he said. "We've had people caught
within the drug free zone and when it gets to court, it doesn't seem
to matter."

Currently the band has three RCMP officers dedicated to the reserve
and expects to have four in place by May. But that still falls far
short of what the population actually needs.

"In most parts of the country where you're looking at a population of
this size, you would have double that. We probably should have
approximately eight or nine police officers here."

While policing did come up during the forum, Werstuik said the bulk
of the work needs to be done on changing attitudes--everything from
taking leadership to help others through alcohol and drug problems,
to recognizing that none of this will ever be a quick fix.

"I heard criticism that we've done this stuff already, but if we've
done it we've failed," Werstuik said. "We've got to keep doing it and
get it right. You can't get too comfortable."

The forum came about following last year's two high-profile
drug-related murders on Okanagan reserve land--the drug related
shootings on the Penticton Indian reserve and later on Westbank First
Nation land.

"We all know what the issues are and what the problems are, but what
we need to be doing is working towards solutions," he said. "Every
community is dealing with this--right across the lake and it gets
pushed our way too along with the whole Westside."

The thrust of the meeting was to get people working together
proactively, rather than reactively. That requires people to take
personal responsibility for their actions, and for helping others
make needed changes.

"There are a lot of people who have deal with alcoholism within their
family, or with drug abuse," he said. The problem, is that while
people may be willing to point the finger at others, they're
sometimes reluctant to make the changes for themselves.

"Some people don't want to hear that they're enabling their relatives
to do these things to themselves, but it's fine for them to say that
when it's someone else's problem."

Werstuik emphasized these problems are not unique to band members.
The bulk of the population living on reserve land are non-native, and
some of them too have drug, alcohol and crime-related problems.

"We know there are a few crack houses on this side of the lake, and
they're not First Nations people involved in it," he said, noting
these social problems are blind to differences in race and culture.

The hope is that by actively acknowledging problems when they arise,
the community can develop positive support systems, in particular for
the younger generation.

"We want young people to feel comfortable expressing themselves in a
positive way," he said.

This won't be a document that sits on a shelf and waits for another
council to come in and do the same thing. The group meets again in
three months to come up with strategies on what to implement next.

"We need to keep revisiting this and check on how we're doing. It
could be that the chief and council can fund services in some of these areas."

Items for consideration to improve the overall prosperity of the
community included developing a clothing exchange, getting volunteers
to help with home repairs, even create a community garden and hold
regular events for youth.