RESTAURANT MANAGER FED UP WITH DOWNTOWN DRUGGIES

David Bekkering has witnessed downtown crime first-hand and wants to
share his experiences with MP Werner Schmidt.

The manager of Kelly O'Bryan's Neighbourhood Restaurant plans to make
a presentation at the Kelowna-Lake Country MP's town hall meeting on
crime at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Coast Capri Hotel. MP Vic Toews,
Progressive Conservative justice critic, will be the guest speaker,
and police representatives will also attend.

"We see the worst of it," Bekkering said Wednesday as he prepared to
go into work at the Bernard Avenue restaurant.

"We've just seen it escalate and escalate. The stuff we see is street
(drug) peddling, aggressive panhandling, hassling our customers. The
worst thing is, it's in the restaurant."

Ten days ago, he had to throw out a man caught in the washroom smoking
crack cocaine.

"I'm a cigarette smoker, and so are some of the other staff. When we
go out back (to the alley), it never fails, but we see three or four
people back there smoking crack."

About three weeks ago, one of his employees was walking past Kerry
Park when he was offered some crack. When he refused, he was beaten by
three or four people.

"When his buddies came in to help, they were tasered in the face,
chest and a couple in the back, not 50 feet from a family restaurant,"
he said.

Police initiated downtown foot patrols in the spring to combat a
growing drug problem and its associated violence, but "they pretty
much quit after Labour Day," he said.

Police have said foot patrols are back as a result of the severe
beating to Coun. Brian Given a week ago, but not because of his position.

"That's a joke; we see (serious crime) every night. I see three-on-one
or four-on-one (beatings) all the time. Just the other day at 10 a.m.,
our daytime staff were treated to a horrific beating just steps away
from the doors," he said.

However, Given's beating has changed things, he admitted. "The last
four or five nights, they (RCMP) have been all over downtown."

When he learned of the town hall meeting on crime, his first thought
was "outstanding" and his second: "I hope people say the right things."

His suggestion is simple: RCMP foot patrols year-round.

"It doesn't have to be a massive number or all the time. It's as
simple as a couple of guys in the yellow suits walking through the
park a couple of times a night."

Their presence alone would make those in the park move on, he
said.

"That would let them know they're not going to have free run of the
park, to let them know it's not their park. They think it is."

Bekkering, his wife and two children moved to North Glenmore from
Calgary in the spring.

Although they saw street crime in that big city, "we never saw such a
concentration of it. Sometimes, you see 30-40 people in Kerry Park at
night. You'd never know in North Glenmore that this existed."