MEETINGS ON DRUGS, HOOKERS HELP POLICE

A series of North Shore meetings on drugs and prostitution has helped
police crack down on the city's cocaine trade, police said Monday.

RCMP Const. Brian Flanagan said August crime statistics show police
responded to 389 incidents of cocaine possession or trafficking last
month. That's up 68 per cent from the same period last year when 268
cocaine offences were responded to.

Much of the activity has been on the North Shore, leading Flanagan to
believe that recent community meetings are having an effect.

Mounties, the City of Kamloops, the North Shore Business Improvement
Association and community partners hosted meetings on July 21 and Aug.
25 to address and find solutions to a growing problem of drugs and
prostitution in the area.

"There is a heightened awareness over there," he said. "More
trafficking offences are being reported and these have led us to check
more people for dope."

The crackdown has helped curb crimes related to the drug trade with
break and enters, theft from vehicles and theft of vehicles on the
decline, Flanagan said.

Officers responded to 4,824 property offences in August, down
significantly from 5,865 last year.

The decline in motor vehicle crime is also the result of people using
disabling devices such as The Club, he said

"People aren't leaving their stuff in their cars and trucks, either.
If thieves don't see anything in a vehicle they tend to leave it
alone. They aren't going to break in on spec."