CITY TURNS UP HEAT ON DRUG TRADE

Penticton's top cop believes his detachment hasn't done the job it could
have been doing when it comes to drug enforcement.

But that's already started to change.

Insp. Dan Fudge, Penticton RCMP detachment commander, commented on the
city's drug enforcement strategy for members of the Penticton Hospitality
Association and others at a Breakfast with the Mayor meeting Wednesday.

"We've been doing a fairly good job of providing education to grades 5 and
6 with the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) about the dangers of drug
abuse," said Fudge. "We view it as another tool in the toolbox of enforcement.

"But on the supply reduction side, we have dropped the ball on drug
enforcement . . . other initiatives have put drug enforcement on the back
burner. I'm embarrassed to say we have not done the job we should have done."

Fudge told his audience Penticton police have seen problems with cocaine,
crack, crystal meth, marijuana and, to a lesser extent, heroin.

Most prevalent are the marijuana grow-operations. Despite a more liberal
view of marijuana in Canada, he said they are a major problem.

"Lots of drugs from here go south," said Fudge.

The United States, he said, has more of a dim view of marijuana, but "there
is direct evidence of marijuana being exchanged for cocaine."

Mayor David Perry introduced the topic at the breakfast meeting and later
said the initiative was coming straight from his office.

"I believe we can form a partnership to deal with this," said Perry. "It's
not simply an enforcement issue, it's a societal issue."

And society will need to be involved in solving the problem, said Tina
Head, manager of the community policing services unit. She will be working
on the police initiative with the Community Partnership on Drug
Enforcement, a group of community members and organizations.

"None of us are naive. We know it won't eradicate drugs, but we can have a
serious impact," said Head. "Today, and over the next few months, we'll be
reinforcing the message that drugs are not welcome and none of us will
stand for them."

One of the strategies the police have already worked on in conjunction with
community partners is to put pressure on "places of particular interest" --
areas, neighbourhoods or even just particular apartment buildings where the
police are asked to attend several times a day.

In the case of motels which have become havens for drug abuse and drug
trafficking, the police are working on a strategy with agents from the
liquor distribution branch and the Ministry of Human Resources, and with
public health officers to put pressure on the motels to clean up their act.

The first course of action, said Head, is to contact the motel owner, a
move which paid off with one of the worst motels in Penticton.

"The owner was quite co-operative," said Head, explaining the police
delivered a "welcome wagon" to the tenants which consisted of a stern
warning and has led to evictions. Those names were put on a "list of
undesirables" which was then sent out through the hospitality agencies to
prevent those people from resurfacing in another location.

The strategy also includes helping the motel owner understand it's in his
own best interest to get names and identification of his tenants, and to
log licence plates and dates of birth in his own records.

Plastic signs have also been placed in all the motel rooms to further drive
home the message. They state: "Welcome to Penticton . . . this facility has
a zero tolerance for drug use and sales."

But while the motel was the first location, Fudge said it wouldn't be the
last. They will be tackling other motels, and then going after homes in
residential areas in the same manner.