Pubdate: Fri, 25 Nov 2005
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:  http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/EdmontonSun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Andrew Hanon

PUSHING DEALERS OUT OF THE 'HOOD

On Tuesday morning, Const. Maurice Brodeur knocked on the front door 
of a south-side house and introduced himself.

Brodeur amiably informed the home's occupant that some of his 
neighbours noticed strange activity - a steady stream of cars coming 
and going at all hours, strange smells, that sort of thing.

This, Brodeur informed the occupant, suggests to police that drugs 
are being sold out of this house, so they'll be keeping an eye on the 
place. After chatting with him for a few more minutes, Brodeur wished 
the man a good day, turned on his heel and left.

On Wednesday morning, Brodeur spun by the house again just to check things out.

"He was already moving out," he says, a triumphant smile lighting up 
his face. "It took less than 24 hours."

No arrests, no charges, but no more drug dealer in the neighbourhood.

Brodeur's partner, Const. Dave Woudstra, said all too often the focus 
of policing is gathering up enough evidence to lay charges, which can 
be incredibly time-consuming and drain huge amounts of manpower.

And often, the end result is a slap on the wrist for the drug dealer, 
who just shrugs it off as the cost of doing business.

"We're not focused on charges," Woudstra explains. "We're focused on 
solving the problem in the neighbourhood. Obviously, everything we do 
is legal, but it's not conventional."

Brodeur and Woudstra have a few tricks up their sleeves. One of their 
favourites is a form letter they send out to everyone in the vicinity 
of a suspected drug dealer's house.

The letter states that it's "in regard to a drug house being in your 
area. I cannot provide you with the address due to the Freedom of 
Information and Privacy Act. However, I am aware that most of you 
know which house I am talking to you about."

They ask all the neighbours to record licence plates and descriptions 
of all the cars that come and go from the house.

"We make sure the house in question receives a copy," Brodeur says, grinning.

Often, the letter is all it takes for drug dealers to rethink their 
choice of location.

The partners will also work with landlords who have trouble getting 
rid of drug-dealing tenants. There are usually plenty of reasons to 
evict them - noise, late rent, damage - and Brodeur is more than 
happy to hand deliver the eviction notice himself.

"If they still don't leave, I'll go with the landlord to the 
courthouse to apply for a writ of possession. It that doesn't work, 
we'll go to the Court of Queen's Bench and get another order. Once we 
have that, I can pull them out by their hair if I have to. We can 
have the whole thing wrapped up in about a week."

Their greatest triumph was when they made life so frustrating for a 
suspected crystal meth dealer that he threw up his hands and left town.

He owned three houses in a row. He lived in one house and sold meth 
out of there, while the others were used by his customers as places 
to flop while they used. Woudstra and Brodeur worked with city hall 
to have the flop houses condemned, thus driving away the dealer's customers.

When they turned their attention to the dealer's house, Woudstra 
said, "he put it up for sale, and told us, 'That's it, I'm outta here.' "

One community they worked with saw the number of thefts and break-ins 
drop from 76 to two in a single month.

Woudstra and Brodeur have their own hotline (426-8229) for south-side 
citizens to report suspected drug houses. While they promise to get 
back to all callers within a day, the tips are kept strictly confidential.

"I'll eat my computer before I ever release anyone's name," says Brodeur
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MAP posted-by: Beth