Pubdate: Wed, 11 Oct 2006
Source: Merritt Herald (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Merritt Herald
Contact:  http://www.merrittherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1446
Author: Cassidy Olivier

FIGHT BACK

It was after he had been shot at for a third time that  Harvey Keys 
decided to move.

Life in LA County had never been without its flaws, but  now it was 
obvious things were becoming just too  dangerous.

Taking the hint, the Edmonton native packed up his bags  and said 
goodbye to the area he had called home for the  past 20 years.

He headed north.

A year and a half-ago Keys, a tradesman during the week  and stock 
racer on the weekend, arrived in Merritt  along with his dog.

Merritt, he felt, would afford a slower, quieter pace  than he had 
been used to in California.

Up until about three weeks ago, that had been the case.  However, 
after doing some construction repairs on a  house that shared a fence 
with an alleged crack house,  Keys had decided he had seen too much. 
He had to do  something.

"Everybody I talk to says crystal meth is already  here," he says. 
"It hasn't. It is mostly crack right  now. I lived in LA County, one 
of the biggest areas for  crystal meth, and [what is happening] in 
Merritt isn't  even close. But if it does come, then watch out."

Keys says all of this by means of introduction to the  four people 
sitting in the living room of his house on  the corner of Nicola and Voght.

There is also a small child present, no more than two,  but he seems 
more interested in getting his hands on  Keys' trade equipment than 
listening to Keys'  introductory spiel.

The rest sit guardedly on the odd pieces of furniture  arranged 
casually in the wide living room as Keys  brings his opening to a 
close. The front door is open  and the sounds of passing traffic 
drift in with the  cool Friday breeze.

Now, it is time for everyone else to introduce  themselves.

There is Margot, Diane, a freelance moviemaker named  Matt and a 
women who doesn't introduce herself but  everyone else seem to know.

Margot and Diane both ask that their real names not be  used and, 
although it is not a privilege often awarded  by reporters, given the 
circumstances, it seems like a  smart move. Because the four citizens 
gathered in Keys'  room are here to talk about Merritt's drug 
problem. They are going to name names and they are going to  provide 
the addresses of where some of the alleged  crack houses are.

They are fed up and want something to be done. However,  preventing 
them from speaking publicly about their  hatred for the drug dealers 
is their overwhelming sense  of apprehension. Some of them have 
children. All of  them have family.

Saying they are scared is an understatement. They are  terrified. 
That is why they are here.

"What can I do?" Diane asks. "I don't have the option  of moving out 
of the city and even if I move out to get  away from it, my children 
still have to come into town  to go to school. That is a challenge I 
have to face  everyday."

Diane, who lives near an alleged crack house in the  Diamond Vale 
area, paints a horrifying picture of the  enormity of the drug 
problem in Merritt. On any given  day, she says, there are up to 40 
different "visitors"  going in and out of the house. She has seen 
people as  old as 65 and as young as 13 enter and leave the 
house.  Twice she has almost been hit by cars that have sped  off 
after making their score.

And that is just one house in one of Merritt's  neighbourhoods. There 
are at least two more in the same  area and many more around the 
city. Some say up to 20.

As expected, Diane has notified the police on numerous  occasions to 
the goings on at the house in question.  She has even gone as far as 
offering the police her  house as a stakeout grounds - anything to 
get the ball  rolling.

However, each time, she has heard the same response. We  are working 
on it. We are doing everything we can.  There is only so much we can do.

"They tell us to collect license plate numbers, the  description of 
people and the times they go in," she  says. "Isn't that their job? I 
had to tell my daughter  when she was six years old about the bad man 
across the  street and the people who go there. The kids can't 
go  out and play in their yard."

Margot, whose connection to the drug world is only  recent via a 
friend who is struggling with an  addiction, says there isn't enough 
being done. She says  it is time people stop turning a blind eye to 
the  problem and deal with it.

"It is all over town," she says. "They are even finding  it up on the 
Bench. They are so busy promoting the town  that they don't want to 
say anything bad about it. It  is a good town but you have this bad 
crap that needs to  be dealt with."

But how?

While both Margot and Diane speak of a need for action,  they admit 
they are, like many people in town, too  afraid to do something about 
it. What if they become a  target?

"[People] want to see something happen," Margot says.  "But they are 
afraid of the repercussions. There is  some big time people involved 
in this. It is not just a  couple of guys who decided to do this small time."

To confirm the reality of the threat, Diane chillingly  relates what 
she heard the alleged top dealer say about  anyone who complained to 
the police.

"All it takes is one phone call and they can be taken  care of."

Still, Keys says there is hope. He has seen what drugs  can do to a 
community first hand. He isn't prepared to  sit back and watch the 
same thing that happened in his  LA community happen in Merritt. He 
doesn't want to move  again although he has already been the target 
of violence. A sizeable rock was thrown through his front  window a 
few weeks ago. Another one made its way  through his truck window a 
few days later.

Like today's meeting, Keys says people in the community  need to 
start getting together to talk about the  problem. There are avenues 
that can be taken. There is  legal recourse such as the city's 
controlled substance  bylaw. In numbers they can shatter the fear the 
dealers have imposed on them.

In his right hand he holds a bundle of 30 posters that  have the 
addresses of three alleged crack houses in the  Diamond Vale area. 
The posters showed up at his back  door last week. He doesn't know 
who sent them but has  taken it as a sign that people are behind him.

With help, he plans on posting them up around the city  to send a 
clear message to the drug dealers that they  will not be tolerated. 
Already, he said, some have  found their way to the front windows of 
local  businesses.

"There are a lot of things that can be done," Keys  says. "You just 
have to have the courage to do them."
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MAP posted-by: Elaine