COMMUNITY BECOMES DUSTPAN FOR POLICE SWEEP IN DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE

No doubt folks vested in the Hastings corridor are pleased by the
continuing police cleanup of prostitutes, pimps, pushers and
pernicious characters of all sorts. That sense of relief is not at all
shared by those of us who have served as the dustpan for this
effective sweep.

I am minister of a small church in the northeast corner of the
Kingsway Fraser junction. Over the past two weeks, I have been working
night and day to manage the increased presence of working girls, the
pushers who supply their habits and the johns who pay the way. On any
given day we have two to six people gathered on the back stairs of the
church. This has caused a great deal of anxiety for the
neighbourhood.

You will well imagine the difficulty this poses for me since I am torn
between my mandated obligation to provide compassionate aid for the
destitute and respect for my neighbours.

Over 10 years, the folk in Mount Pleasant/Cedar Cottage have worked
together to establish boundaries adequate to ensure safety and
security in the neighbourhood. Notable in this regard is the work of
the Dickens Community Crime Watch. This work has involved them in the
development of regular and effective community patrols, numerous
gardening and street improvement projects, and growing numbers of
community social events fostering cultural and ethnic cooperation and
collaboration. If praise is to be given by city hall, I would hope
that my neighbours are on the receiving end.

The police strategy may serve the interests of one neighbourhood at
just this moment. But that initiative should not be considered
remedial or beneficial if the problem is simply displaced. I would
encourage the powers-that-be to send some clear signal of support and
encouragement to my neighbours who now imagine the undoing of a decade
of responsible citizenship -- sacrificed to the police agenda in the
Hastings corridor.

George Feenstra

Grace Memorial United Church

Vancouver