Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 Source: Surrey Now (CN BC) Section: Opinion Copyright: 2001 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc., A Canwest Company Contact: http://www.thenownewspaper.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462 MORE COPS MEAN FEWER PROBLEMS Surrey deserves applause for adding 12 new RCMP officers and 20 auxiliaries to the detachment to help curb the drug dealing and prostitution that's tearing apart some Surrey neighbourhoods. The same goes for federal and provincial representatives who have been meeting with city officials and residents to plan strategies for removing this blight from Surrey streets. But everyone concerned must understand more than talk is needed now. There are ordinary people afraid to go out at night because of the crime in their neighbourhoods. Ordinary people have organized themselves to put pressure on hookers, pimps and druggies to make them go away.They're going out on the street confronting the underworld that has moved in next door and taking considerable risk in doing so. They're afraid, but also determined not to surrender their homes and neighbourhoods to the Two Percenters - the tiny number who won't live by the rules of law and society. If these ordinary people - moms, dads and grandmothers - can stand up and fight they've got to know their city, province and country are behind them all the way. Enforce the law, nail the johns and put uniforms on the street. If there's a cop on the corner, hookers won't stand on the street looking for business and it's certain the family men who buy sex from these women won't be coming by. That will give residents immediate relief. At the same time, decision-makers need to meet and make longer-range plans to deal with the social issues which sit at the heart of these problems. Perhaps Surrey council should listen to one of their own, Coun. Judy Villeneuve, who for years has lobbied unsuccessfully for a comprehensive city social policy that would provide a framework for dealing with the dilemmas of big city life. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth