STRATHCONA HIRES 'EXTRA EYES AND EARS'

The spread of the Downtown Eastside drug trade and associated crime has
prompted the Strathcona Business Improvement Association to hire a private
security firm to help police the area.

Cathy Kwan, coordinator of the association, said the daily burglaries and
break-ins to vehicles are too much to handle for the limited number of cops
working in Strathcona, which runs from Gore Street east to Clark.

The crime has also made it difficult for businesses to attract customers
and workers to East Cordova, where street prostitution and open-air drug
dealing are common, Kwan said.

"We understand the police can't be everywhere, so this is the step we have
to take," she said, sitting in her office on East Cordova at Hawks Street.

York Security Ltd. started a two-man bicycle patrol last Monday to deter
criminals, drug deals and break-ins. The patrol, which operates strictly
during the day for now, is concentrating on the four blocks east of Gore
Street along Hastings.

Dressed in green and grey jackets and black pants, the guards are equipped
with first-aid kits, radios and disposal bins for syringes found in the
area. Part of their role will also be to help people to find shelter, food
or clothing.

Paul Reeve, business development manager for York, said the guards are
mostly "extra eyes and ears" for the community and police, but will do some
enforcement, telling illegal street vendors to move off the street.

"The aim is not to be confrontational-we're not going to be getting in
fights or drag-out battles," said Reeve, who worked as a Vancouver police
constable from 1957 to 1967 before getting into private security. "We're
there to aid and assist the police, and we'll be calling them when we need to."

York Security will also be operating a "John Watch" program, where a
security guard in a car patrols the East Cordova industrial area-a known
working area for prostitutes-and records licence plate numbers and makes
and models of vehicles. That information will be given to Kwan, who is
setting up a Web site with descriptions of the johns' vehicles and all but
two of their licence plate numbers. Signs have already been posted in the
industrial area warning the johns they're being monitored.

Vancouver police Sgt. Mike Anfield, supervisor of the neighbourhood
policing team in Strathcona, supports the association's efforts, noting the
police department already works closely with various security firms in the
city, including one in Chinatown that seems to be working well.

"It's just a reality right now; there's just not enough policemen to deal
with the issues that we're facing in those areas right now," said Anfield.
"As a department, we're not opposed to private security, and obviously
we're in support of the community taking steps to help us deal with the
problems."

Neither Kwan nor Reeve would say how much it costs to have security guards
patrolling Strathcona. But Reeve said preventing a burglary or a break-in
is a huge saving to the community when court costs are taken into account.

Another factor in the decision to hire private security, said Kwan, is fear
that community policing centres in the area could be closed or amalgamated
in the wake of funding cuts by the provincial government. Mayor Larry
Campbell also recently told the Courier that the police department won't be
getting an additional 44 cops for the Downtown Eastside.

Even so, Kwan believes the perception that Strathcona is unsafe is unfounded.

"We want our community to get away from that perception of fear down here.
We have crime problems, but I still believe it's a fairly safe place. I
come to work every day down here and I haven't had a problem. There's crime
all over the city-it just so happens it's more visible here."