7-ELEVEN HELPING RESIDENTS CLEAN UP COLLINGWOOD

Drug dealers and prostitutes will have a harder time plying their trade
around the 7-Eleven store at Kingsway and Joyce after a community group
convinced the franchise to bump up its lighting, install a camera and
remove its phone booth.

Bill McMichael, chair of the Renfrew Collingwood Drug and Alcohol Steering
Committee, said complaints about criminal activity at the corner where the
store is located began in January. Neighbours said drug dealers and
prostitutes were working in the darkened areas on the property, leaving
condoms and needles in their wake.

Sir Guy Carleton elementary is located nearby, prompting concerns from
parents about their children.

McMichael e-mailed 7-Eleven corporate headquarters about the problems
several weeks ago and to his surprise, a representative contacted him the
next day. Len McGeouch, national loss prevention manager for 7-Eleven, and
the manager of the store attended a community meeting and shortly afterward
added the camera and new lighting to the property, for a cost McMichael
estimates at $50,000.

"There's no place to hide. It's well-lit," he said. "It's obvious to anyone
who drives by there it's a completely different place now. They should be
commended for their efforts. We expected a fight, I don't know why. We
weren't expecting immediate cooperation."

McGeouch and 7-Eleven management have also offered to supply volunteers who
clean up the school grounds with free coffee, hot chocolate and donuts and
plan to help distribute a crime prevention newsletter to local schools.

Chris Taulu, executive director of the Collingwood Community Policing
Centre, said the newsletter will highlight issues like warning kids about
the dangers of picking up needles.

Taulu said since the policing station opened in 1994 it's made great
strides in cleaning up the East Side neighbourhood.

A new volunteer foot patrol was recently formed at the request of ICBC to
supplement the efforts of a volunteer bike patrol launched four years ago.
The community organization also plans to hold workshops for area businesses
next week on prostitution and methadone labs.

"Our purpose is to keep them informed so we can keep on top of the
problems," Taulu said. "It takes a lot of education."

She said the efforts have proved successful judging by the response from
7-Eleven.

"I haven't had any complaints lately and everybody is saying how much
better it is."

The Collingwood Community Policing Centre covers the areas from Broadway to
the Fraser River and Nanaimo to Boundary.

McGeouch was on holiday and unavailable for comment at press time.