ROSEDALE HOME RAIDED BY POLICE, GUNS SEIZED, AFTER MONTHS OF COMPLAINTS

Drug House Must Go, Neighbours Demand

An alarmed neighbour watched as police fished a handgun out of a
barbecue during a raid on a Rosedale house a couple of weeks ago.

On Tuesday afternoon, police were back again in force. Seven police
cars and other unmarked vehicles descended on the house on Rupert
Crescent. Residents said nearly a dozen including a preteen boy were
taken away.

Police would say little about the incident on Wednesday other than
that they were responding to a person in distress call. After
questioning a number of people, there was not enough evidence to lay
charges.

Frustrated neighbours say they have complained to police for months
about the house where the lights never go out. It draws a steady
stream of visitors who stop for a moment and then leave.

No one who lives nearby has any doubt what is going on in the rented
home.

It's a drug house. And they want it gone.

That's why about 20 have decided to fight back. A registered letter is
being sent to the owner, who reportedly lives in Sylvan Lake, urging
him to clean up the mess blighting their family-oriented
neighbourhood.

They have pondered ways to let the owner's insurance company know what
is going on at the house.

One neighbour said there were suspicions that previous renters were
dealing drugs but the real problems began with new tenants last
summer. One renter left in September telling nearby residents he was
getting out because of the crack deals going on.

The raid two weeks ago heightened anxieties.

"I saw them take a handgun out of the barbecue," said one woman, who
is in her 70s. "I saw them also loading a rifle into one of the
(police) vans."

Tuesday's events were not any more reassuring.

"It's scary when you see five police cars, one with all the lights
going on and taking (people) out in handcuffs.

"It's pretty darn scary living close to something like
that."

Another neighbour, who is writing the letter to the owner, said
residents have had enough of the constant traffic, late night banging
on doors by confused drug seekers, and an endless parade of tenants,
including young girls, who fill the house at any given time.

"This was a good family area until this.

"The school buses all stop in front, four of them every day. It's not
a good situation."

The woman said police make arrests, but within days the same lowlife
crowd are back again.

"It's not that police are not doing their job. It's the court system
that's not doing its job.

"After a while, (the drug dealers) just feel like they've got a lot of
power."

It does not have to be this way, said the woman.

"I've been here all my life. This was a nice quiet city. It's sure
falling apart.

"I think we all have to take a stand as a community if we want to do
something."

RCMP Cpl. Sandy Andrews said it's difficult to say how many trouble
spots like this there are around the city. But police want to know
about them.

"The big thing is to continue making reports to police."

While police may not always be able to react right away, the
information is often useful in building cases against criminals.