NEIGHBOURHOOD GROUPS SHOOS AWAY THE RIFF-RAFF

A neighbourhood patrol begun by a handful of frustrated homeowners is
working so well they're going to export their know-how to other troubled
areas in Abbotsford.

"We really have made a difference. That's why we're going to another
neighbourhood," said Lori Burnett, one of the people who spearheaded an
evening patrol with her neighbours in the north McCallum area of the city a
few weeks ago.

After the kids are tucked in for the night, the 2 dozen or so residents don
their reflective vests, pick up flashlights and clip boards and go out in
small groups every night to shoo away drug traffickers, prostitutes and
their customers who conduct business in their streets and alleys. They jot
down licence plate numbers and descriptions of suspicious cars.

The information they gather is faxed to the Abbotsford police once a week.

"We shine flashlights into their faces and tell them to move along. We
don't want them in our neighbourhood," said Lisa Emery.

What they're doing is working.

The numbers of drug dealers, sometimes cruising by in stolen cars, and
their nervous customers roaming the area have diminished since the nightly
street patrols began.

"We've had results, it's really been very quiet. The number of drug dealers
is down but we still get some prostitutes," said Burnett.

There have been other small victories as well.

Neighbourhood troubles escalated when squatters moved into an empty house
on Nelson street. After persistently calling the Abbotsford city bylaw
office and the police, an abandoned house was recently cleared of squatters
who attracted much of the drug trade to the area, said Kent Emery.

"It has helped. Our goal is to get that house torn down," he said.

The residents check the house each night to make sure no one's moved back
in. A suspected marijuana growing operation in the neighhbourhood has also
seemed to have been moved out, he added.

The Citizens' Patrol, a group of volunteers who work with the Abbotsford
police, have put the area on their hot sheet list, Emery said.

Another positive, unexpected outcome is that the residents are getting to
know each other for the first time, even though some have lived there for
10 or 20 years, he said.

"People have a whole different outlook now. Everybody feels safer," added
Burnett.

Now they're going to reach across town to share their experiences with
residents near Grant Park, who are also beseiged by unwelcome
street-associated people.

"They were so happy to see us wanting to help them," said Burnett.

The residents are doing this because they want to stay and to feel safe in
their homes again, they say.

"It made me sick we had to tell our kids, 'This is what a needle looks
like, if you see one get an adult.' But this has been good. It's better
than sitting in our houses watching them through our windows," he said.

"All we want to do is to take back our streets," said Burnett.

They also want the city to be more proactive in dealing with the persistent
drug, prostitution and petty street crime that circulates around the city.
They warn that the Salvation Army bridge house would bring in more people
who would be vulnerable to the drug pushers.

They also want the city to come down harder and faster on negligent
landlords, hire more bylaw officers and change the way the bylaw office
prioritizes the complaints it receives, they say.

"A shrub that's too tall is dealt with before a drug house. There should be
a turnaround time of 24 hours for a crack house," said Emery.

He'd also like to see more council meetings held at night so those who work
can also bring their issues in front of the city.