Pubdate: Wed, 28 May 2003 Source: Hub, The (CN NT) Copyright: 2003 The Hub Contact: http://www.hayriverhub.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2349 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) CRACK COCAINE PLAGUES POLICE The people who keep stats for the RCMP thought Sgt. Don Fisher was making mistakes in the way he reported serious assaults. But it was no mistake, assaults are up in Hay River. Fisher cautions that it's no reason for alarm - yet. "We're not talking hundreds of cases of increase," he said, tempering his speech. "There is a marked increase." He says the increase in assaults can be traced fairly directly to an increase in the use of crack cocaine in Hay River. "Cocaine is not a drug to dabble in, a social drug like it was in the 70s and 80s. The drug has changed and it's dangerous to the community," he told a Chamber of Commerce gathering Friday. He said his detachment plans to attack the problem from two sides, with increased enforcement and proactive youth education. While Fisher has been asked by his superiors to cut his budget by 12 to 15 per cent, he has put in a request to have the Hay River detachment's staffing complement increased. It has been historically been larger than the eight members it has now. He says that without an increase in staff, he may not be able to meet the security needs of the community as it grows due to pipeline development. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake