CITY STAFF HELP RCMP TARGET DRUG HOUSES

A joint strategy between the RCMP and the city to crack down on drug
houses is helping to clean up neighbourhoods, officials say.

RCMP Const. Mike Caira said many drug houses have been shut down
temporarily under the year-old effort, which attacks the problem from
two fronts -- the enforcement of criminal laws as well as local and
provincial regulations. "It makes it difficult for them; they have to
find another place," he said. "Anything we can do to make it tougher
is helpful. I guess the end goal is to get everyone shut down and the
more we do, the more difficult we make it for organized crime to be
conducted in neighbourhoods," Caira said.

Under the initiative, police alert the city after they've raided a
drug house, and the municipality brings in a team of inspectors,
including bylaw, fire, building and health officers to sniff out other
potential violations.

In the latest bust Thursday at a house in the 2100 block of Oak
Street, inspectors found building and health-code violations -- broken
windows, stairs that were rotted, and missing railings on a staircase,
as well as garbage strewn throughout the building, said city bylaw
manager Ken Craig. Police arrested six people and continue to
investigate.

Craig said the city has done about 20 inspections under the
two-pronged approach. "Almost every one of them has some kind of
violation inside. It could be something like broken windows, or
sometimes they'll find a door has been barricaded, sometimes the
railings on staircases are missing," he said. In other cases, he said
garbage or sewage overflows have created a health hazard.

So far, Craig said the city has not issued any fines for violations,
but some landlords have been ordered not to rent out the houses until
they're in compliance with building or health requirements. In one
case, the provincial electrical inspector dismantled the gas and hydro
meters until the furnace was upgraded, he said. "So there has been a
cost to landlords," he said. To date, landlords have been willing to
rectify the problems, he said, but there's always the option of
getting a court order to ban the use of the house if someone doesn't
comply.

Craig said the inspections have occurred in different areas of the
city, including the Hart Highway area, VLA, and areas off Fifth and
Ospika, adding there have been a few repeat offenders.

"It's better than nothing. I think it's a step in the right
direction," he said.

The city could now look at other steps to hold landlords more
accountable, he said. City council has expressed interest in
considering a bylaw similar to one in Surrey which allows the
municipality to charge policing costs to owners of drug houses. "But
ultimately, if they comply with everything we say and the place is
livable again, they can rent it to whomever they want. And if they're
not paying a lot of attention to who they rent to, then they've got a
bunch of drug dealers and we're back at it again," Craig said.

Most of the properties are owned by Prince George residents, he said,
but not all of them are aware of what goes on in their rental homes.
In one case, he said a vacant house had been taken over by drug users.