Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 15, 2007, Winnipeg, Manitoba A6 Winnipeg free press saturday december 15, 2007 saturday special Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg free press Sel Burrows co chairman of the Point Douglas residents committee in front of 10 Lorne ave., a crack House that was shut Down. Shut them Down crack House in the neighbourhood make a Call a House in the North end was firebombed this month in what police allege was a gang turf War Over the drug Trade. A teenager died in the Blaze and 10 others were rescued. Neighbours who suspected the House was a drug Den say they tried to get it closed Down before the fire. For others living near a drug or gang House and fearful of what could happen next Here a what you can do to clean up your Street. g of a crack House next door perhaps a place where people come and go at All hours a House that looks More like a drive thru As cars pull up people dash in and out then drive away or maybe a place that a decorated in gang Graffiti where Hood rats like to chill around the clock if any of this sounds familiar then Call 945-3475. That a the number for the provinces Public safety investigation unit. The unit is made up of five investigators All former police officers and headed up by Al Cameron a former gang cop. Cameron and his Crew enforce Manitoba a safer communities and neighbourhoods act. The legislation ? the first of its kind in Canada was brought in by the doer government in 2002 to give Ordinary folks a tool to report and get rid of blights like drug Dens gang houses booze cans and brothels. What makes it work As Well As it does is that people can Lodge complaints about a particular House and do so with no one finding out the name of the one who complains other than Cameron and his office. He said he cannot talk about any address in particular and about whether his office was Ever notified about the House on Mountain Avenue that burned Down dec. 4. However he said in All cases the process is the same. It works this Way once a complaint is made investigators with the unit often with help from police gather All the information they can about the problem House. Who owns it who lives there How often have police been there and what exactly is going on the answer to the last question usually involves specialized surveillance. Investigators will sit on an address and watch who comes and goes. If there is a steady Stream of customers buying drugs or sex or alcohol and a regular Pat Tern is documented by the surveillance team the Public safety investigation unit moves in to Stop it. Our efforts Here Are to be As surgical As we can be Cameron said. What does the unit do three things Cameron said. An informal warning letter can be sent to the tenants of the House telling them to curtail their own or their kids behaviour if Junior is dealing drugs when mom and dad Are at work. A formal letter is sent to the landlord giving five Days to Tell the tenants to vacate. In most cases this is All the action that a needed since most landlords want to co operate. If a landlord does to co operate the province has the authority to go to court and get a Community safety order to Board the House up for 90 Days. The province has Only done this once so far. To see How Well this process works you Don to have to look any further than Point Douglas. Sel Burrows co chairman of the Point Douglas residents committee said in the past six months Cameron a Public safety investigation unit and police have closed Down 22 crack and gang houses in the neighbourhood. Its a godsend to our Community Burrows said. They sent the surveillance vans in and the next thing we knew people were being evicted All Over the an added Benefit was that More residents got involved in cleaning up the Community As they saw the drug dealers and gangsters being punted out. At the same time Petty crime like theft and break ins went Down. The disruptive behaviour has decreased Burrows said. But we know we re not finished. We know we will always have a problem As Long As we have poverty and Burrows and fellow Point Douglas resident Roanna Hep Burn said one of the drawbacks to the Public safety investigation unit and safer communities and neighbourhoods act is that not a lot of people know about them. I think they could promote it More Burrows said. Peo ple Don to pay attention until they need the province is putting a lot of resources into this added Hepburn. They should also be informing people of the another Issue is that the people who could take advantage of the act Are often poor themselves distrust authority and Don to have a voice in what happens in their Community Bur rows said. Many also have a problem with the Law and Are unwilling to get involved he added. Cameron said he understands these issues but the rising number of complaints each year shows people Are becoming More familiar with their rights. In Manitoba if something does to work people Don to bother with it he said. He also said because of the increasing number of com plaints to his office two More investigators Are to be hired in the new year. The goal is to Deal with problem houses and their tenants As quickly As possible so that Law abiding citizens Don to have to put up with crime. If you break the Cycle you Are significantly decreasing these types of activities Cameron said. landlord accountable the safer communities and neighbourhoods act was the first of its kind in Canada to help Neighbours get rid of problem houses and their tenants. It works by holding property owners accountable for threatening or disturbing activities that regularly ? not just occasionally ? take place on their property. These activities include . Unlawful drug use dealing production or cultivation . Prostitution and related activities . Unlawful Sale of liquor . Unlawful use or Sale for consumption of intoxicating substances non potable and solvent based products like Hairspray . Sexual abuse or exploitation of a child or related activities or . Possession or storage of an unlawful firearm weapon or explosives. once a complaint is investigated and proven the act compels landlords to evict the tenants responsible for creating the problem. Police can be and usually Are also involved in this process. The act also gives the province the Power to get a judicial order to Board up a House. Those who violate the order Are subject to fines and a possible jail sen tence. Saskatchewan Yukon Nova Scotia Newfoundland and Alberta have passed safer communities legislation modelled on Manitoba a. Similar legislation is under consideration in the Northwest territories. for More information go to ;