Pubdate: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2007 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/info/letters/index.html Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Author: Colleen Simard MY NEIGHBOURS THE DRUG DEALERS It's A Crime That These Criminals Go Unpunished THE new neighbours didn't seem like the drug-dealing type. They looked like clean-cut, respectable kids with nice vehicles. Heck, even their mom -- a short native woman -- was there to pitch in on moving day. She had a fancy vehicle, too. They were just young men; maybe students on their own for the first time. But after a few days, the truth was obvious. I was painting my house and I couldn't help but notice the constant procession of people going next door, and leaving less than a minute later. No time for small talk. There were people on bikes, people in cars, old people and young teens in various stages of disrepair -- all beating a path to my neighbours' doorstep. I heard snippets of conversations, too. Further confirmation. They're small-time drug dealers, but dealers nonetheless. Scary stuff. "Is that a crack house?" my dad asked when he dropped by. He counted about 40 people going to my neighbours' house in 15 minutes. Business is good, but not so great for us. So, what do you do when drug dealers move in next door? I went online and did some research on the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act; it's enforced by the Manitoba Justice Department. Here's how it works. You put in a complaint with Safer Communities. Your complaint is confidential. They investigate the complaint to make sure it's true. Drug dealing, child exploitation, gang activity, prostitution, and having unlawful weapons or explosives are grounds to invoke the Safer Communities Act. If the investigators find out what you're saying is true, they can issue a warning letter to the property owner, resolve the issue out of court, or essentially order the landlord to evict the people in question. Landlords who don't kick out renters lose out, too. They can't rent the property for 90 days. But nothing on the Justice website said people guilty of crimes get charged for them, or if the rules apply to homeowners. Oversights I hope. The people might move, but it creates a false sense of fixing things. Around here the problem then just moves a block or two away. Like Gordon Sinclair Jr. said, the Safer Communities Act just displaces the problem. The dealers keep dealing. The young girls keep getting exploited. The gangs keep enlisting more kids. The only thing is you don't see it next door anymore. Out of sight, out of mind doesn't work so well in this neighbourhood. We're all connected. We all feel the effects, good or bad. In my case, fate stepped in and I didn't have to do anything. I woke up at 4 a.m. to yelling. My neighbours had 30 of their closest friends over for a party. They spilled out into the yard, the sidewalk and the street. A couple arguments got really heated. I hoped nobody had a gun. Those kids had radar. They'd go back inside their house just before the cops would drive by. I went to bed, but not before someone smashed their picture window. The party's over. The morning news said a shooting happened a couple hours later, a block or two away. Another guy is dead. I wonder if it's where my neighbours' party moved to. A day later the kids showed up in their mom's vehicle. They packed it up quickly and efficiently, all the while keeping a close watch for enemies. Then they were gone. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved. The landlord was there the next day to fix the window and clean up the aftermath. I felt bad for him. He said the kids had spotless references. They were getting some kind of sponsorship from their reserve. Their mom has some high-paying government job. There's nothing worse than our own people abusing a system struggling to support others truly in need. Some deserving kids could have benefited from that sponsorship money. I'm left to wonder where those kids are now. Have they learned anything at all? - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom