RCMP PLEDGE TO HOLD THE LINE
Date: Sunday, May 25 @ 02:49:36 PDT
Topic: Enforcement


I was recently asked to comment on what the police were doing to combat some of the visible hand-to-hand drug deals that are sometimes observed in certain parts of the community. My answer, like everything else in policing, is not simple and certainly not black and white.

Last year, our officers did 32 "dial-a-dope" investigations. These dial-a-dope operations are set up and run by organized crime groups who use specific telephone lines ( usually cell phones ) and paid runners ( delivery persons ) to supply product ( usually methamphetamine and crack cocaine ) to addicts. Thirty-two times last year, these runners showed up to deliver product only to find out that their customer was a police officer - they really do need to be more discriminating.

From these people we seized $44,000 in cash and $106,000 of their product. In addition we also seized two handguns and an assault rifle from them. They also lost seven of their vehicles to forfeiture. From those investigations, we laid 52 counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and eight trafficking charges ( all of which carry maximum penalties of life in prison ). Additionally, we laid three drug possession charges and 22 various other criminal charges.

These are pretty impressive statistics for a relatively small detachment such as ours and we hope these efforts will make a difference to the health and safety of our community.

I think they will - but not to the extent that one would think.

The sad reality is that the "law of supply and demand" reigns supreme. By that I mean "as long as there is a demand, there will always be a supply and indeed a supplier."

For every delivery person we take off the street, the organized crime groups will recruit another. For every dealer we send to jail, another will step up to ensure the supply of dope ( it's called that for a reason, by the way ) remains uninterrupted.

Fueling this cycle is the addict. It is that insatiable demand that guarantees our efforts alone will never fix the problem. While our enforcement efforts serve to perhaps "keep a lid on things," they also tend to displace or simply move the problem from one area to another.

Drug addiction is generally both a social and a health care issue; and one that directly or indirectly affects every citizen. Everyone needs to be fully engaged with this issue. It's our role as the police to do two very important things to help deal with this issue.

First and foremost is effective and targeted enforcement in order to try to "hold the line" so that the associated crime and disorder does not get too far out of control. And secondly, to work co-operatively and in an integrated fashion with those other social and health agencies that are tasked with dealing with the addiction and hence, the overall demand.

I believe that as a society we can beat this current wave of addiction, but we will never do it strictly through enforcement. We must fully commit to finding new and innovative ways to detox and treat the current addicts but more importantly, through education and early intervention, ensure that no more addicts are created.

It took a generation of concerted effort, but look at the great success we've had in reducing the tobacco addiction; drug addiction can also be beat.

So, to answer the original question about what the police are doing to combat these open drug deals: we pledge to continue to "hold the line" and stand ready to work with Health and other social service providers to reduce the demand.

Insp. Pat Walsh is the officer-in-charge of the Mission RCMP detachment





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