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.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart