NEW TOP COP NO FAN OF CRACK-PIPE PROGRAM

No Proof It Helps And It Probably Enables Users: White

Ottawa's new chief of police says the city's program of giving crack
pipes to addicts is a bad idea.

After only a few hours on the job yesterday, Chief Vernon White said
rather than reducing crack use, the pipe program may make the problem worse.

"I have a real problem anytime we give instruments of drugs to anyone
to utilize," he said during his first meeting with reporters in
Ottawa yesterday.

"Personally, I have difficulty telling my 17-year-old daughter that
using crack cocaine is wrong but, by the way, the city will give you
a device to use it."

No one has proven that the program reduces drug use, or rates of HIV
or hepatitis- C infections, White said. He has never worked in an
area where such a program existed.

He doesn't think Ottawa is more afflicted by crime than other large
Canadian cities, but said he'll review staffing levels to ensure
police resources are deployed as effectively as possible.

He gave few hints about his future plans for the city service. But he
made clear that he intends to introduce a restorative justice program
for youth, at least as a pilot program to see how it works.

Such programs divert youth from the court system, where more than 70
per cent who go eventually return.

There are advantages, he said, to "a system where accountability and
victim centred are the tools of the day, and forcing that person to
be accountable for their actions."