AND THE GOOD NEWS IS ...

When You Turn The Dedicated Men And Women Of The Thin, Blue Line
Loose, You Get Streets Empty Of Thugs

You want good news.

It is good to see the cops out in full force on the downtown river
pathway, the foot soldiers of Operation Riverwalk, a thin blue line
standing up for us and against those who figure they can do what they
damn well please.

Yes, it is mighty good to see the drug-dealing dirtbags crawl back
into their holes, nowhere to be seen, not smoking their crack in our
faces, not selling their stuff shamelessly in open view, not looking
to prey on an easy mark, not strutting around like they own the place
when they contribute sweet tweet to this city except grief.

And it is really good to hear citizens thank the badges and give a
thumbs-up and a smile, feeling just that little bit safer as they go
about their lives not wanting to be hassled. The folks closest to the
idiots, who have no way to be sheltered from a rude reality, know the
score all too well.

Chico Ziegler is with his shopping cart and his bottles, standing on
the sidelines yesterday afternoon.

"Get rid of the crackheads. Take them all down. Either that or let
them kill each other, then come back and pick up the aftermath," says
Chico, offering some advice to all the police on patrol -- the vans,
the cars, the bikes, the shoes on pavement.

"I'm alive but I could sleep here and be stabbed or shot. The
crackheads can slit your throat. You never know."

What we do know is this city's police officers hit this hot spot big
time. It is a sign of things to come here and at other hot spots
where criminals congregate in the downtown and Beltline.

Insp. Bob Ritchie, the number one in District 1, speaks of zero
tolerance to the lawbreakers.

"We are going to make arrests. We are going to get in their space and
make life uncomfortable," says the inspector, who grew up in this
city, had a grandfather in the city police and has seen the face of
Calgary sadly change.

And arrests are made. By supper hour, it is 11 arrests. There are 27
outstanding warrants executed.

Naturally, drugs play a part. But there are all those breaching the
conditions of their release. They are not behind bars because they
are supposed to behave and follow some simple rules. They don't.
What's a piece of paper? The creeps catch a break and go back to
doing the same shtick, laughing all the way to the next offence.
Maybe the judges should patrol the streets.

But they don't. The cops do. And every one of them just wants to be a
police officer, a noble calling. Arrest the bad guys. Help the
victims. Make this city safer while being backed by their superiors
as they do their duty.

Even when the courts administer pathetic slaps on the wrist, the
police go out, arrest again and put the criminals before the courts again.

And, since much of the crime is committed by parasites living off
folks on the street, the criminals sometimes get away with it, the
victims not wishing to face the consequences of being seen as a rat.
If only more people would come forward.

And those going to work in the towers and in the storefronts see
things they do not like, things making them feel nervous, no matter
what public relations spin they hear.

Acting Sgt. Scott Todd does not dismiss the attitude of unease. "If
people say they don't feel safe, it's a legitimate belief. It doesn't
matter what the statistics say, you can't tell them what to feel," says Todd.

People do have fears. They imagine nastiness happening to them. Is it
perception? Is it real? Save such stuff for the shrinks.

Todd says he wants citizens to report suspicious activity. How else
can crime be fought?

Sgt. Dave Louie is a character I figure should get a guest shot on
Law and Order. "These drug dealers who pump out their chests, act
like a big man on campus, we want to get these guys off the streets,"
says the sergeant.

Staff Sgt. Barry Balerud came over from dealing with organized crime.

"I asked to come here. This job is not disheartening to me. I really
want to help these people. This is why we became police officers.
This. Right here."

Yesterday is good news. All that's missing is the broom. But what of
today, tomorrow and tomorrow's tomorrow?

"In a perfect world we'd have the same deployment every day. We are
going to continue. We'll be out there hitting different hot spots at
different times to sustain the impact," vows Insp. Ritchie.

Of course, we all know this is not a perfect world. But, in this
imperfect one, in a summer where crimes grab all kinds of headlines,
it is good to see that thin blue line.

Very good.