C.B. POLICE WANT FUNDING BEFORE JOINING DRUG INITIATIVE

Regional Force, Rcmp Looking At Combining Enforcement Efforts

SYDNEY -- Cape Breton Regional Police have yet to sign an agreement to work
with the RCMP in the battle against illegal drugs.

A joint forces operation first proposed last fall and finalized in January
was expected to clear regional police management by now but several sources
say a bitter territorial war in 2000 may have left lasting wounds.

The deal, if and when approved, would give both forces information about
the players in the drug underworld and would entail drug officers from the
two forces riding together in cars.

"It would be using existing computers, existing vehicles, existing
budgets," an RCMP source told this newspaper.

"As of right now, there's a duplication of efforts and expenditures. We're
dealing with the same (criminals), watching the same people, so this would
be more cost-effective, quicker and would provide the community a more
effective police service overall."

Associate Chief Dave Wilson said the only reason the regional force hasn't
signed on with the RCMP is because it wants the provincial Justice
Department to provide funding first.

"It would help out the RCMP and it would help us out," Associate Chief
Wilson said of the proposal. "We would work together in this building, but
the delay in this thing is discussions with the province in relation to
further funding.

"It hasn't been shut down due to any relationship problem between the RCMP
and regional police, I can tell you that."

Cape Breton regional council opted after bitter debate in 2000 to replace
the RCMP with an expanded regional police force. But the province still
pays the RCMP to enforce drug laws and customs and excise regulations and
to patrol highways in parts of industrial Cape Breton.

Associate Chief Wilson, regional police's second-in-command, said a joint
forces effort would target street drugs like the prescription drug
Oxycontin, marijuana growing operations and cocaine dealers. Oxycontin, an
addictive painkiller known as "hillbilly heroin" for its cheap buzz, has
been linked to escalating crime in Cape Breton.

Justice Department spokesman Richard Perry said if any two forces want to
work together, they just do it, without funding from the province. He said
there was no money for joint forces operations in the last budget.

Last month, the two police forces were apparently watching a marijuana grow
in Georges River, but regional police moved in without a warrant to seize
$1 million in drugs and equipment. Because of the lack of a warrant, no one
will be charged for growing 1,000 plants - a crime that usually nets
serious jail time.

A federal source told this newspaper that Mounties were also watching the
illegal grow but were gathering evidence before attempting to make an arrest.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Wayne Noonan said a joint forces operation would better
serve the community, as intelligence is what drives any successful police
force in making arrests.

"It's certainly been proved many times in the past that an integrated
approach against crime has worked," Sgt. Noonan said.

Mayor John Morgan said a lack of provincial funding has left residents with
inferior police service but he was surprised the regional force wouldn't
take advantage of the RCMP offer to share services.

"I know there's been controversy in the past, but I think you have to put
it behind you to deliver the best services possible to residents," he said.