POLICE NEED BACKING ON DRUGS

You have to wonder if last week's RCMP sweep through Hein Road wasn't
a bit of stagecraft in advance of a public meeting in Rutland this
week about drug problems.

It's tempting to view last week's arrests as a public-relations
exercise to show residents there that the police are aware of the
problem and are doing something about it. It's all in the timing, as they say.

But it's also true that police in this case merely responded to
complaints from neighbours and showed up to investigate. It was like
shooting fish in a barrel - not that any shots were fired. Maybe the
better term is easy pickings.

Hein Road has long been the epicenter of illicit activity in Rutland,
and its notoriety tends to taint the entire community.

Drug addicts, and the crime these addictions spawn, live in all areas
of the city. But the worst cases seem to congregate downtown and in
that small Hein Road area.

Our reporters talked to people who live on Hein after the series of
arrests, and the majority are law-abiding people who try hard to keep
the street clean and friendly. It only takes a few hard-cases to tip
matters in favour of the dark side.

The RCMP and the city have a job to do on Hein Road. A public meeting
this week will shed some much-needed attention on what is required to
fix this problem.

The RCMP are on the front line of this troubling issue, and are doing
the best job they can to enforce the law. They need help from city
and provincial governments to address the underlying problems that
lead to crime.

We hope this week's public meeting leads to some direction from
politicians that frees the RCMP from their improvisational role on
this increasingly public stage.

- - Managing editor Tom Wilson