Pubdate: Sat, 04 Mar 2006 Source: Maple Ridge News (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Maple Ridge News Contact: http://www.mapleridgenews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1328 Author: Monisha Martins, Staff Reporter RECLAIMING THEIR NEIGHBOUR-HOOD A sign tells certain folks that they are not welcome: "No drug dealing or drug dealers permitted in this building." The residents make it clear, the neighbourhood and street dubiously dubbed 'The Hood' and 'Haney Harlem' is being reclaimed. Three apartments on 224th Street have signed on to the Crime-Free Multi-Housing Program. Residents who live there now tell tales of change. "I wouldn't walk on the street even in the day time two years ago," said Joyce Murphy, who has lived in an apartment near St. Anne Avenue for four years. She feels safe now. Four years ago, there was a "constant stream of riff-raff going through the building," said John McKenzie, her neighbour and a member of the Haney Community Policing Committee. There was a drug dealer living just across from Murphy's apartment. "His high friends would come banging on my door when he wasn't home," she said, "demanding drugs and asking to be let in." From their apartment perches, McKenzie and Murphy have seen it all. "It is better than crime TV," Murphy said, laughing. She's seen cars broken into, prostitutes hustle with truck drivers and strange men attempt to open the apartment's front door from her deck. McKenzie and a friend from across the street chased an intruder out of the apartment at 3 a.m. He probably broke in to steal their mail, McKenzie said There were "seedy" people always walking through their back parking lot. Constant phone calls to the police and mayor's office brought no lasting results. "We got mad," McKenzie said. Across the street, the Maple Inn was the first apartment complex in Maple Ridge to become crime-free certified. Bill Turner, manager of the Maple Inn, asked RCMP about the program after hearing about its success in U.S. and other Canadian cities. He took a one-day workshop on how to implement it, then proceeded to make changes at the inn and finally held a safety social to introduced his tenants to the program. Turner then encouraged the owners of McKenzie's apartment to sign up. "We've been watching the neighbourhood ever since," he said. The CFMHP is a crime prevention initiative designed to help apartment owners, managers, residents, police and other agencies work together to keep illegal and nuisance activity off rental property. It works by increasing security in apartments, educating and screening tenants. The program essentially displaces unwanted tenants. Unable to find a place to live in the community as a result of the program, the tenants move to a new area where they can operate unhindered or conform to the standards set by the apartment managers. Shape up or ship out, McKenzie said. Tenants sign a document that pledges their commitment to the principles of the program. At the Maple Inn, Turner stipulates "no drugs" on the rental agreements. "We've had quite a few people in here that we didn't tolerate," he said. He counted 15 suspected drug dealers coming in and out of a building nearby one day. One summer, there was a homeless camp in the backyard. Another night, he was woken up by the creaking sounds of shopping carts. "It was dawn, I counted 35 buggies going down the street in a procession," he said. There have been police calls for fights, drug deals gone bad and even a dead body. The transition has had its bumps. The Maple Inn's CFMHP sign was stolen. Turner's trailer was sprayed with a swastika and both him and McKenzie have been called vigilantes. Not everyone on the street likes what they are doing. Turner admits cleaning up the neighbourhood is a constant battle. He says he's creative and uses different tactics to deter criminals. There are cameras around the Maple Inn. He's installed more lighting in dark areas so no one can hide. If he can get rid of a tenant by serving them with an eviction notice, that's what he'll do. "I don't like getting the police involved if I can handle it myself," he said. He has been threaten a few times, but isn't scared. He's got a can of pepper spray, if needed, and his partner, Rose Walker, keeps a pipe wrench near her bed. Keith Wilson, co-ordinator of the CFMHP for the Ridge Meadows RCMP, has also seen a change in the neighbourhood since the apartments were certified crime-free. "Anecdotally, from doing crime reports and block watch, there certainly seems to be a reduction in calls for police," he said. "One of the things that has happened is the tenants feel more secure and all the neighbours and residents have taken ownership of the building and become more aware." In McKenzie's building, frequent alerts are sent to tenants. When an intruder broke in last summer, tenants were warned and asked to make sure all doors were securely closed. The alert even provided a description of the person and asked tenants to call RCMP if they saw him lurking around. The benefits of the program outweigh the glitches, McKenzie said. "Just ask the residents who live in our area and buildings," he said. "They breath a sigh of relief in that they can go out and not be confronted by drug dealers or other criminals on the way to the store." Carrie Kerr and her 10-year-old son feel comfortable now living in what used to be a problem drug house on St. Anne Street. RCMP dismantled a grow-op in the shed behind her house not long ago and McKenzie said the former tenants were nothing but trouble. Persistence from Turner and other residents got the tenants evicted. Maple Ridge's bylaw department forced the owner of the house to clean up. It's a different place today. "I see the police around," she said. "It's come a long way." There are four buildings currently certified as crime-free in Maple Ridge. Wilson said RCMP are looking at expanding the program. "What I hope to do in the next little while is have a crime-free forum and get the people who are involved to talk to each other," he explained. Maple Ridge mayor Gordy Robson is undertaking a review of crime-free housing as part of the downtown revitalization plan. He would like to reward apartment owners who join the program. "We are looking at ways we can entice or require apartment owners to be part of this program," Robson said. The district is currently considering an option where business licences will cost less for owners of crime-free certified buildings. Turner and McKenzie says perseverance is the key. Sticking together is vital, McKenzie said. "That's why we've done fairly well." "It takes forever," Turner added. "You clean some out, you get some back, but we've managed to curtail it to a small roar." - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPF Florida)