Pubdate: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC) Copyright: 2013 Canoe Inc Contact: http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3837 Author: Leo Knight TIME TO CLEAN UP THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE Calgary Herald columnist Licia Corbella drew a firestorm of heat last week when she suggested in a column that Glee actor Cory Monteith might have lived were it not for the relaxed attitude towards drugs in Vancouver. Now I wouldn't suggest for a moment that the Insite supervised injection site had anything to do with Monteith's untimely death =AD something Corbella asserted. Indeed, in my experience these celebs have no end of adoring sycophants who will do their bidding. And I also take issue with Corbella saying heroin was not easy to obtain in other Canadian cities. It is. But as easy as it is in Vancouver? Probably not. Corbella was vilified on social media and in the mainstream media for the column she wrote. Speaking to CKNW's Simi Sara on Friday, Corbella asked if the radio host was defending heroin users? Sara replied that she was =93defending Vancouver.=94 Whether or not you agree with the column, Corbella's salient point was well-made. The Downtown Eastside is a blot on the landscape of Vancouver. True, parts of it are being gentrified, much to the chagrin of the Pigin Restaurant protesters who seem to think it's desirable to live in a cesspit. But at least several blocks of the DTES are still one of the world's largest open-air drug bazaars. Back in the 1980s, I walked a beat in the DTES. Back then we called it the =93Skids.=94 It was a constant battle to keep a lid on the bubbling cauldron of crime. But at least we showed up for the fight. In the early 1990s, Vancouver Police Department management dismantled the beat teams and instituted what was termed community police officers. There were six of those positions. They were told to go out and engage the community in dialogue. Community barbecues were held and certain scumbags became =93clients.=94 It was embarrassing and an abdication of police responsibilities. The problem for the VPD is once you give up the street it is next to impossible to get it back. The department has reinstated beat patrol officers in recent times, but they are being asked to do their job without tarnishing the department's image. The beat guys I have spoken with have taken to calling it the =93Jimage,=94 after Chief Jim Chu. Drugs and stolen property are openly sold, bought and used on this stretch =AD an area that houses Insite. Corbella took Vancouver to task in her column despite being wrong about the Monteith connection. Defenders should open their eyes and not attack the messenger. Drive down Hastings Street. The problem is obvious. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom