COPS CRACK DOWN ON HARD DRUGS

Campbell River RCMP will be cracking down on the city's hard drug
users, and are already making headway, said Staff Sgt. Doug Greep to
city council Tuesday night.

Greep presented the Campbell River RCMP's progress report on strategic
planning to council, and explained its objectives. According to the
report, police have done much to cut down on the sale and purchase of
hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, thanks in large part to
additional funding for undercover operations.

"As a result of this funding an undercover operation was successfully
completed this spring," the report said. "Numerous people were charged
with trafficking of narcotics. The undercover operators and source
information both indicate that the drug dealers are becoming much more
cautious about selling drugs to unknown persons. This is a positive
indicator that we are making headway in making drugs harder to access
in this community."

Councilors were pleased to hear how well the police are doing in
catching drug dealers, but some were concerned about the effectiveness
of the undercover operations in the long run. Coun. Bill Harrison was
concerned that the courts can act as a "revolving door" for criminals,
in that sentences are not tough enough to deter repeat offenders.

Staff Sgt. Greep said repeat offenders are usually looked at more
critically, and often face tougher sentences from the courts.

Greep said that RCMP are making hard drugs their main focus in
narcotics investigations, and are moving away from targeting marijuana
grow operations. He said marijuana is still a target for police, but
that cocaine and heroin are a more immediate concern.

The police progress report also said that the local detachment has
recently implemented a new computer database system to track stolen
property, and provided details on local RCMP's traffic safety initiative.

"The results of the study are consistent with the national study,
which indicates that our main focus to reduce fatal and injury
accidents should be on seatbelts, intersections and impaired drivers,"
the report said.