RESIDENTS ORGANIZE FORUM TO FIGHT CRIME

Home isn't what it once was, say residents living along the western half of
the Kingsway corridor.

"I've noticed changes in the last six years," said Reg Rumley, a resident
of the Gilley area who has lived there for a dozen years.

Drug dealers and prostitutes seem to be busier than ever in the
neighbourhood, according to Rumley.

He's part of a group that's organizing a crime-fighting forum, Building Our
Community, for next week with the idea of tackling the issues behind the
problems that plague their neighbourhood and eventually putting together a
Kingsway Imperial neighbourhood association.

One of the organizers said they're taking the challenges of the sex trade
and drug dealers and turning it into an opportunity to build a stronger,
safer neighbourhood.

The community-based approach will hopefully find solutions rather than send
the problems into another area.

Rumley was one of the few residents willing to go on the record for the
article because he lives in a larger complex with security and gates that
give him a greater measure of protection.

Others, who live in single-family homes, claim to be too concerned about
retaliation from the prostitutes, pimps and drug dealers who, apparently,
know them by sight.

Rumley is in charge of the common areas of the strata, which has secured
underground parking for residents but four or five outside the gates for
visitors.

"More or less, that's where the activity is going on, has been going on,"
Rumley said. "Where they come down and sit in the corner and shoot up or
whatever."

He has seen cars drive down to the visitors' parking spot and meet for a
quick exchange of cash and drugs.

Lately, residents have started working more closely with police,
particularly those with the southwest community policing office, and
they've seen a difference.

"They've done a tremendous job," Rumley said. "In the last four months,
I've seen only one girl (in the underground parking)."

Staff Sgt. Dale Quinton, the officer in charge of the Burnaby RCMP's
southwest sub-office, agrees the district's crime rate has improved.

It comes down to everyone working together for a change, Quinton said,
including the added presence of 12 police officers and involvement from
other partners in the community, from the SkyTrain police, Metrotown
security, the city, local residents and the police bicycle patrol.

Quinton said that, although the forum isn't a police event, he will be
speaking to those attending about safety and crime prevention.

A safe community can be achieved through a number of means, including
removing graffiti promptly, keeping properties tidy or fixing broken
streetlights.

"These sort of things make your neighbourhood a nicer place to live,"
Quinton said.

The forum will include displays and information from Mayor Derek Corrigan,
the RCMP, Business Watch and Block Watch.

The forum is planned for Tuesday, Oct. 18 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Initially supposed to take place at a local school, the location has been
moved to the Central Christian Assembly, which is at 5855 Imperial St., the
corner of Imperial Street and Kingsway. There will be child care provided
at the church's nursery, with local teenagers looking after children.