It's A Battle Of The Minds As Cops Use Intimidation Tactics While Working The Beat On Stony Plain Road Fighting crime on a notoriously gritty stretch of Stony Plain Road is a battle of the minds, even if the bad guys seem to be fighting unarmed. "It's always about applying that pressure," says Edmonton police Const. Trevor Sutherland. He and partner Const. Bill Countryman are beat cops on the strip flanking 156 Street. Pressure means constantly finding ways to control criminals who can be completely irrational. Most are on drugs and trying to feed their habits, said the officers. [continues 598 words]
The prince of pot took shots at the government and praised parenthood yesterday in his last words to Edmonton supporters before heading to jail this fall. Alberta's capital was Marc Emery's latest stop in his farewell summer tour of Canada. "I'm not repentant. I'm not trite. I'm proud of what I've done," said Emery before dozens at Beaver Hill House Park, 105 Street and Jasper Avenue. He's perhaps Canada's most prominent marijuana advocate, a veteran of more than 30 years of pushing pot. [continues 269 words]
Teen Ecstasy Victim's Stepdad Says Seller Should Be Charged With Her Death The stepfather of an Edmonton teen who died after overdosing on ecstasy thinks the mostly drug-related charges against her alleged drug dealer aren't enough. Guy Buehler, stepfather of Cassie (Eyre) Williams, said he thinks it may be time to charge drug dealers with the deaths linked to their drugs. "It's a wake-up call to the justice system," said Buehler. Cops laid five charges against a 17-year-old they busted the day after Williams' death. [continues 261 words]
Pressure Of Tough Economic Times Leads To More Clashes, Killings The global economic crisis may cost some people their jobs - but it's costing some gangsters and drug dealers their lives, say cops. Just yesterday, police released the names of two homicide victims that members of the local Somali community have said are Somali. Both were killed Tuesday. Several Somalis have turned up dead in the last few months. According to Edmonton's top gang cop, they may be the latest victims of a slowing economy. [continues 369 words]
The pressure teens like Alexander Xavier Smith face growing up in a neighbourhood full of drug dealers lures many kids his age into Edmonton's dark side, says a city street expert. JoAnn McCartney, a former Edmonton vice cop, said teenagers who start as users can find themselves striking up relationships with drug dealers, who masterfully exploit them. "The group likes them. They fit in," she said. Smith's friends have told Sun Media that they heard Smith had started doing drugs in the months before his death last summer. [continues 154 words]
Lots Of Drug-Impaired Drivers Druggie drivers are flooding Edmonton's streets in ever-higher numbers, and the problem is likely worse than police can detect, according to a drug-recognition officer. Police have slapped 271 high drivers with 24-hour suspensions already this year - before the busy holiday season - while only 200 were handed out all of last year. New measures allowing cops to bust drug-impaired drivers on the spot likely don't account for the increased number, according to Const. Ian Brooks, one of the city's seven drug recognition experts (DREs). [continues 215 words]
Hadn't Smelt It, Hadn't Dealt It. A B.C. man was acquitted of trafficking 5.5 kilograms of "magic mushrooms" in Hinton Court of Qeeen's Bench Sept. 25 because the accused and police could not agree on the smell of marijuana in the accused's borrowed car. On June 20, 2006, Whlhelm Evers was caught in a speed trap by Whitecourt RCMP near Carrot Creek on Highway 16 driving as fast as 160 kmh. He was arrested after three officers smelled "fresh-cut" marijuana in the car. A search turned up a hockey bag full of hallucinogenic psilocybin mushrooms, as well as a bag of marijuana, in the trunk of the car. All the bags were vacuum-sealed and could not have emitted a smell, according to expert testimony in the case. Evers was charged with trafficking both the mushrooms and the marijuana. In sworn testimony, Evers said that, though he did not have any impediment to his smell, he could not smell the weed in the car during his hours-long trip from Cumberland, B.C. to Edmonton to sell glass pipes to paraphernalia stores. He also said he borrowed the car from his brother and did not know the drugs were in the trunk. [continues 113 words]
