Getting drugs off streets requires a team effort
Last week there were two rallies organized to address the opioid crisis — one in the city and the other on the Blood Reserve. On Monday night, I attended the Community in Crisis March that started at City Hall and ended with a candlelight vigil at Galt Gardens. Several very touching speeches were given by citizens who have been impacted by the opioid crisis and are determined to fight back.
Our Mayor and local MLA Maria Fitzpatrick also provided remarks echoing the sentiment that this crisis sees no boundaries — it does not discriminate. They also reaffirmed we must continue with harm reduction efforts and band together as communities.
On Tuesday night, I attended the community meeting in Standoff consisting of politicians, medical experts, educators, social service providers, EMS, police and citizens. It also emphasized the importance of communities in southwest Alberta continuing to come together and the work that is underway.
At both events — I even saw signs at the march — people called for addicts to be dealt with as victims of an illness and drug dealers to be dealt with as criminals. As law enforcement we cannot turn a blind eye to criminal activity, however, we can target our enforcement efforts where they will have the most impact — the dealers.
When I spoke at each event, I was extremely proud to report how closely we work with the RCMP and the Blood Tribe Police Service (BTPS). In the rash of overdoses there has been incredible co-operation between the agencies and it is this co-operation that led to the arrest of one of the major dealers by members of ALERT.
The key to the arrest was information from citizens who have had enough of the overdoses and destruction. These citizens worked through the internal conflict about whether to say something or do nothing and ultimately had the courage to come forward.
In my career I have worked through several drug crises in several jurisdictions and it’s always the same. People will say that everybody knows who the local dealer is or who the main dealer from the big city is then criticize the police for not doing anything. The reality is we cannot arbitrarily kick down doors and arrest people based on a hunch or what the community perceives as common knowledge.
Our judicial system requires that we obtain search warrants and those have to be based in evidence. That evidence cannot be rumours, hearsay or speculation. It has to be real evidence from the police and citizens. It has to be information from citizens who are independent witnesses to the alleged crime and who share their observations — ideally people with firsthand experience and are legitimately in the know.
The quandary for the citizen is will they be identified or become known. If you have information and want to remain anonymous, I encourage you to reach out to the police and have a conversation on what the options are.
Alternatively, time-tested Crime Stoppers continues to be a viable mechanism for citizens to anonymously share information and it works. he choice to share the information is up to the individual but if one chooses to not share it they should not be critical of the police for not doing anything. We need to operate within the parameters of the law.
Another comment I heard at the two rallies from citizens was, “nothing will happen to the dealers anyway.” There was also a reference at the meeting on Tuesday about how a local dealer had been arrested, released on minimal bail and was “right back at it” with the suggestion the police had failed.
I empathize with these comments but I must clarify the role of the police is enforcement — to gather evidence, lay charges and get the accused before the courts. The outcome for a drug dealer depends on the bail hearing, a successful prosecution, a guilty verdict and the sentence imposed by the judge. We — citizens and police — cannot control the dynamics of the judiciary. However, the first step to disrupt the criminal dealers is for citizens and the community to mobilize and have the courage to get information to the police so we can do what we can. Our efforts to target the suppliers and dealers who flood our streets with these deadly drugs are ongoing and we will continue to do all we can to impact the drug trade.