POLICE LAUNCH PROJECT BERNIE TO STOP DRUG-RELATED MUGGINGS

Hamilton police have set up a task force called Project Bernie to deal with
a rash of drug-related muggings in the downtown core.

The initiative will involve flooding the downtown business district with
plain clothes drug officers and members of two street crime units.

Detective Sergeant Lisa DiCesare, who heads up the criminal investigation
bureau, said the muggers have been mostly young people involved in the drug
culture. They usually prey on other young people and their peers in the drug
community.

The crimes may involve violence or threats of violence and are generally
spur-of-the moment crimes of opportunity.

"People are being mugged for wallets, rings, jewellery, and visible things
(usually on their person). It's a crime of opportunity," she told reporters
yesterday.

"We're looking at the downtown area where people were recently victimized
from Wellington to Bay Street. Some of the victims are co-operative and some
are not.

Some have admitted they were robbed as a result a drug transaction," she
added.

DiCesare said police believe the muggers are stealing easily disposable
goods to raise money to buy drugs such as crack cocaine or trading the goods
directly for drugs and that small groups or individual criminals are
involved, rather than a structured gang.

She said task force members, who made their first arrests Wednesday night,
have targeted selected areas where the muggers are believed to hang out and
that are also frequented by victims, who are almost always on foot.

During its first night out, Project Bernie seized a small amount of cocaine
and charged two young men with drug-related offences.

One of the accused refused to identify himself to police and was charged as
a "John Doe."