POLICE SERVICE NEEDS HELP OF THE PUBLIC IN FIGHTING GANGS

The ongoing fight against drugs, organized crime and gangs needs to be a
team effort involving law enforcement officers and the citizens they serve
says Camrose Chief of Police Marshall Chalmers.

"We're going to do whatever we can to eradicate this illegal activity and
thuggery in our community," said Chalmers, "but it is not just policing. I
think the people in the community have to stand up and say they are not
going to take this. They have to let the courts know we are not going to
put up with this.

"They need to be calling us every time they see something. They can't feel
like they are bothering us. There are internal systems set up that allows
the drug intelligence to be forwarded to the appropriate bodies and then
disseminated for enforcement action. "We are all in this together. We have
to find ways to continue to mobilize the community to assist us."

Not the old days

While Camrose has been largely immune from organized crime and gangs in the
past, that no longer is the case.

"We're seeing more and more of these thugs starting to move into rural
Alberta, said Chalmers, who, as president of the Alberta Association of
Chiefs of Police is on the phone with chiefs from other police services
every day.

"I can tell you, without getting into too many details, that we have dealt
with, in Camrose, at least five separate organized crime and gang entities
over the past couple of years.

"They intimidate and their sole purpose for existence is to control illegal
activity, mainly the drug trade.

"There is no question they re trying to take over rural Alberta and not
just isolate themselves in the bigger centres."

Dangerous drug

The pressure on police and communities to stand up to the bad guys is being
heightened by the fact that the drug they are selling most often is crystal
meth, which Chalmers feels is the worst drug ever to have hit North America.

"We have seen far too many people who have been addicted to crystal meth,"
he said.

"Locally, we see kids who can't even hold their heads up, who are picking
at their skin, or who have this stuff coming out of their eyes.

"It's easy to make, very addictive, and it is easy to hide."

Chalmers is happy with the work that has been done by the drug response
task force in educating people about the dangers and presence of drugs, and
says that the drug trade is one of the issues the police service and police
commission will be looking at very strongly as part of their new strategic
plan.

"We want the dealers to spread the word among themselves that if they head
to Camrose there is a good chance that they going to get caught," he said.

"We literally have every one of our patrol members, along with our
specialty sections focusing on eradicating these people from our community.

"We are working very closely internally, sharing information and
intelligence and acting on intelligence every chance we get.

"I have a zero drug tolerance, and every time we have the opportunity we
take the appropriate action to bring them before the justice system."

More funding needed

The Camrose Police Service and Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police are
working hard to convince the provincial and federal governments of the need
for more funding of police services.

"We have," said Chalmers, "a whole bunch of things that are coming at us
fast and furious that require funding, including training for the way we
respond to threats of terrorism.

"Right now, in Camrose, a police officer, who is the first responder who
comes across a white powder has no training or equipment to deal with it."

Camrose Police Service is still receiving less in terms of a basic policing
grant than it was receiving in 1992.

Bottom line

Chalmers feels that when it comes to policing, the safety of citizens has
to be the bottom line and number one concern.

"You see other issues in the papers that are important, depending on what
side of the fence you are on, but clearly, when it comes to public safety,
how important are they?"

"Our purpose is to protect the people we serve."