Pubdate: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON) Copyright: 2006, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: http://torontosun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457 Author: Jonathan Jenkins, Toronto Sun MARCH FOR A SAFER CITY West-End Residents Hit The Street 'Disgusted With The Hookers, Pimps And Crackheads' A small but ardent band of west-end residents marched defiantly through their neighbourhood with police yesterday in a show of solidarity against petty street crime blighting the area. "I'm tired of cleaning up condoms I haven't had the pleasure of using myself," said accountant Alec Wright, a member of the Dupont Improvement Group: Improving Neighbourhoods, or DIG IN. "We're disgusted with the hookers, pimps and crackheads." Police Commanders The Junction-area march, which had about 50 people -- including the commanders of both 11 and 14 Toronto Police divisions, local city Councillor Adam Giambrone and mayoral challenger Jane Pitfield -- left from Campbell Park and wound around the Dupont and Lansdowne Aves. area. Jack Fava organized the event and said it was all about creating safe, clean, healthy neighbourhoods. "There's safety in numbers," Fava said. "It's only when we come together that we can make changes." Drugs -- and the prostitution and burglaries associated with the trade -- are the most common complaint. And while the area has avoided the kind of pitched gun battles and high body counts of the city's most notorious neighbourhoods, Fava said the daily burglaries, street robberies and loitering "are the stuff that gets under your nails." "People here fear going down to Lansdowne and Bloor," he said. A Long Decline Katie Kwaczek, a mother of a 2-year-old, said she was born in the Symington Ave. area and just recently bought a home there. "Drugs, definitely drugs" are the biggest problem, she said. Over her 32 years in the neighbourhood, she said she's seen a long decline, with single-family homes turned into rental properties for tenants with fewer roots and less commitment to the area. Staff-Insp. Brodie Smollett, of 11 Division, said police and residents must work together if things are to improve. "We're going to need everybody -- all hands on deck -- to solve these problems," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman