Pubdate: Tue, 05 Jun 2007
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2007 The Edmonton Journal
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Jamie Hall

POLICE CRACK DOWN ON DRUG HOUSES WITH HOTLINE

EDMONTON -- The drug house in McCauley is no longer open for 
business, its windows boarded up, a notice nailed to the front door 
declaring it unfit for human habitation.

Once a hive of illegal activity, it was closed down by neighbours fed 
up with seeing what Det. Maurice Brodeur calls "disreputables" when 
they peered out their front-room windows.

"Nobody knows what goes on in the neighbourhood better than the 
people who live there," says Brodeur. "Drug houses affect people's 
quality of life."

Community involvement is the cornerstone behind report-a-drug-house, 
an EPS pilot project which went city-wide on Monday.

Initially implemented on the south side, the program was responsible 
for successfully shutting down 88 confirmed drug houses between 
September 2005 and June 2006, and identifying many more.

As of today, people who suspect there's a drug house in their 
neighbourhood can contact their community police station or phone a 
hotline -- 426-8229.

Doing so will set into motion a process that involves numerous 
agencies in the city, among them bylaw enforcement, Capital Health 
and social services.

" 'Drug house' is actually a misnomer," says Brodeur. "It's really a 
'disorder house.' Yes, there are drugs in the house -- usually meth 
or coke -- but there aren't a lot of drugs."

There are, however, occupants whose troubles can overtake a house, 
and eventually an entire neighbourhood, even those with 
million-dollar-plus properties.

"When we do our analyses and see a spike in crimes in an area," says 
Brodeur, "like prostitution, fighting, break and enters in cars and 
garages, we know there's a drug house somewhere."'

Not all of the houses wind up condemned, like the one in McCauley.

Sometimes tenants move out voluntarily or cease whatever behaviour is 
drawing the attention of police.

Sometimes, too, says Brodeur, the people living there are "down on 
their luck" and take advantage of help from social agencies that get involved.

Marlene Castor happened to be in the neighbourhood visiting a friend.

She was one of the last tenants to vacate the rooming house in 
McCauley, which is where police and media gathered for Monday's announcement.

Two months later, she still hasn't found permanent housing, but is 
glad she no longer lives in the house. "I lived there for a year, and 
there was a lot of stuff that went on," says Castor, "a lot of bad stuff."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman