Pubdate: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 Source: Golden Star (CN BC) Column: Sgt.'s Desk Copyright: 2008 The Golden Star Contact: http://www.thegoldenstar.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2144 Author: Sgt. Marko Shehovac THE DRUG PROBLEM IN GOLDEN What is the Detachment doing about the Drug problem? There were a lot of comments in the survey that wanted to know what the Detachment is doing about the drug problem in Golden. Here are some examples of the comments: "Golden is a major drug center and trade route and is now being overrun by killer drugs brought in by dangerous gangs. Why is there not a Drug Unit here?" "Drug enforcement in school." "Stop wasting energies on small time pot users and growers and more energy into more alcohol abuse control. Concentrate busting hard drug users and dealers." "A strong presence in the fight against drugs." "Get the dealers one way or another. At least make it difficult for them. Close the homes where they are selling." I will attempt to do my best at answering all the comments. When it comes to the drug problem the community of Golden is no different from any other community in Canada. One of the priorities identified by community members was the concern of alcohol and drug abuse. The detachment is tackling this priority on two fronts; education and enforcement. The education has to come from home and in our schools. We start in the elementary grades. We have had over several years the D.A.R.E. program. This program teaches our children how to handle peer pressure when our youths are confronted with temptations whether it be alcohol, tobacco or drugs. Golden Detachment has one member trained to teach this program and a second officer is to be trained this year. As one of the Drug Awareness officers I enjoy going into the high school to pass on my knowledge in regards to drug abuse and I enjoy debating with the kids. The goal in these sessions is simply to pass on some facts and discuss choices we are forced to make. We have some interesting discussions. The high school and community members work together in bringing in people to discuss drug issues. Last year a panel of speakers including a past meth addict spoke to students and parents. This was well received. We also deal with drinking and driving risks with our youths in the schools. In the last year we have had good success in arrests and seizures in large quantities of Marihuana and Cocaine. The grow ops were large commercial operations and we are now placing seizure orders on the houses which prevents the owners from selling the house until the court deals with the charges. One large grow op that was ongoing was in Donald and charges are pending in that case. The Detachment also recently seized a large quantity of cocaine destined for Golden. We are also involving Children and Family when we are investigating drug activities where children are in the house exposed to the many dangers involved in the drug trade. I have been in grow ops where electrical plugs are in water and pesticides are all over the house. There is also the danger of home invasions where weapons and threats of violence are common. Some people are quite willing to expose children to the numerous risks. Even knowing that we have full intent on removing children from these situations the risk to many seems to indicate it is a worthwhile risk. The Trans Canada Highway is a major drug route and the Traffic unit is involved in a number of Drug interdiction seizures where large quantities of drug and money are seized. Golden Detachment will have in the near future a drug dog and handler that will be assisting the Traffic unit on the highway as well as the General Duty Detachment Members in Golden. As for closing the homes we have to work within the powers that the law allows. We can be creative in causing as much grief as we can within the law to make life uncomfortable for those that wish to traffic drugs in our community. As for a Drug unit being in Golden, that will not happen. When the Detachment has all eight Members working it is my thought to have one Member dedicated to drug/serious crimes. There are advantages and disadvantages to taking one Member out of the uniform work in a small Detachment but I would like to experiment with this and see what the results are. I do support the return of a drug unit back into the Kootenay area. That unit was moved to Kelowna many years ago. Detachment Members are receiving additional training to develop tools and experience to deal with drug investigations. In regards to the comment about small time drug users and small grow operations, I would comment that some of our bigger cases start with the arrest of the small time users and dealers. Any grow operation investigations that I have investigated are growing for the purpose of trafficking. We will target all grow operations regardless of their size. There are a number of ways that the police get their information. If you have information we can be contacted through Crime Stoppers or a phone call where you don't have to provide your name. A great deal of work has to be done before the police can take any action or have a Justice of the Peace grant a Search Warrant. I know that there is some frustration in that we are provided information and the expectation is to take immediate action in an arrest or executing a search warrant. Recently we had a couple of young adults die as a result of a drug overdose or death complicated by the use of drugs. When these incidents have happened there is an outcry from many people who happen to be in the know and we get a number of calls. The shock of the loss of a friend seems to wear off and the calls stop coming in. The more information we have the more we can work with. This is not just a police problem to solve, it is a community problem and the community has to share in the solution. This is through your effort with continued education as we have seen in the community and providing us with information. I hope I have addressed some of the concerns brought forward in the recent survey. Sgt. Marko Shehovac Golden/Field Detachment - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom