Pubdate: Thu, 29 Jun 2006
Source: Herald Sun (Australia)
Copyright: 2006 Herald and Weekly Times
Contact:  http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/187
Author:    Mark Buttler
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)

DRUGS NO-GO ZONE

HEROIN addicts and dealers will be banned from nine Melbourne suburbs 
in a radical crackdown on the drug trade.

They will risk jail if they break court orders banning them from 
drug-plagued Footscray and surrounding suburbs.

Police plan to round up dealers and addicts who don't live in the 
area and ask magistrates to ban them from the entire 31 sq km of the 
City of Maribyrnong.

It covers Footscray, Braybrook, Yarraville, Maidstone, Tottenham, 
Seddon, Kingsville, West Footscray and Maribyrnong.

The scheme, which starts on Saturday, centres on Footscray where 
residents and businesses have been blighted by the heroin trade and 
related assaults, robberies and burglaries for 20 years.

If Project Reduction is a success it could be adopted in other 
problem areas such as Melbourne City, Richmond and Springvale.

The Sentencing Act gives magistrates the power to place offenders on 
good behaviour bonds with special conditions.

Those sent before courts under Projection Reduction who want to 
continue to enter the municipality would have to satisfy a strict set 
of requirements.

They would need to show they had immediate family in the area, 
required medical or legal advice, or needed to be there for any 
purpose or business that could not be conducted elsewhere.

In a six-month period last year, 60 per cent of the 388 offenders 
processed at Footscray police station were not from the City of 
Maribyrnong. Of those, 72 per cent had problems with drugs. The bans 
will apply to people convicted of drug dealing and possession. But 
offenders including burglars, shoplifters and people with assault 
convictions would also be eligible for exclusion orders if they were 
found to be drug addicted.

Footscray locals are fed-up with dealers and addicts using their streets.

Constant police attention and a succession of blitzes over many years 
have failed to break the drug trade.

Sen-Det Brendan O'Mahoney of Footscray CIU, who developed the scheme, 
said it was aimed at breaking the networks that the heroin industry thrives on.

"If you take away the demand, hopefully that will lead to less 
dealers being in the area," he said.

He said Footscray was treated as a one-stop-shop where addicts steal 
and sell their stolen goods then meet dealers and shoot up again.

Sen-Det O'Mahoney said he could not say if the drug trade would move 
to other suburbs because no such scheme had operated before.

He said a dedicated researcher would be assigned to monitor whether 
crime dropped in Maribyrnong during the six-month trial and whether 
the exclusion orders had any effect in other areas.

Regardless, he said Footscray ratepayers and business operators 
deserved a break from the drug trade.

"It's pretty clear most of our offences occur to support drug 
habits," Sen-Det O'Mahoney said.

He said he hoped the plan would deprive dealers of a market and keep 
visiting addicts away from the culture generated by being in the 
company of other users.

Sen-Sgt Dave Byrt said Footscray was used by heroin addicts because 
it was close to the city and easy to get to by public transport. The 
bans will apply to people convicted of drug dealing and possession. 
But offenders including burglars, shoplifters and people with assault 
convictions would also be eligible for exclusion orders if they were 
found to be drug addicted.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman