Pubdate: Sun, 07 Oct 2007 Source: Kamloops This Week (CN BC) Copyright: 2007 Kamloops This Week Contact: http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1271 Author: Markus Ermisch, Staff reporter RCMP MAKES CRACKS IN CITY DRUG CRIME Few crack shacks remain in Kamloops after concerted efforts to root them out, the city's top cop announced Thursday. RCMP Supt. Jim Begley said that within the last three years, the number of drug houses has dropped to four from 26. Some of the dealers have left town, he said, while others have been incarcerated. "Accommodations [for drug dealers] are less easy to find," Begley said, noting that although crime in general hasn't decreased in Kamloops, it has also not increased. One example of a drug house the police, together with the City of Kamloops, was able to bust, is at 971 Westgate St. During a press conference Thursday, city officials announced that, in the course of one year, the drug house was transformed from a messy property to a house that is now well kept with new owners. After neighbours submitted a petition bearing 50 names to city council one year ago, the city took action, patrolling the area 45 times in the span of 10 weeks. Of particular concern, said community and corporate affairs director Len Hrycan, was the proximity of the drug house to Brocklehurst secondary. A few months after the petition went to council, police obtained a search warrant and made several arrests. Later, the city - using the unsightly premises bylaw and the Motor Vehicle Act - cleaned the property and charged $2,050 in costs against the house's property taxes. The Westgate bust also marked the first time the City of Kamloops used the Civil Forfeiture Act. Under the act, a municipality and the RCMP can advise the provincial government to seize a property if it appears the owners profit, or receive revenue, from the proceeds of crime on that property. Often, said Hrycan, it is enough to threaten use of the act to get a landlord to comply. The act came into force in April 2006 and has been used only a few times in Kamloops, most recently in March on a property on Chestnut Avenue. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart