Pubdate: Wed, 19 Oct 2005
Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2005 The Sudbury Star
Contact:  http://www.thesudburystar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/608

WHERE THE DRUGS ARE

In The End, The Law Is Stacked Against Law-Abiding Tenants

Carmen Bechard, a grandmother who chased drug dealers out a Kathleen 
Street apartment building she manages, is both a hero and a 
cautionary tale. As a community, we can gain confidence from her 
heroic actions; as a society we need to learn from and act on the 
risks she took and why she took them.

Bechard is a stickler for the rules, and has proven she will go to 
great lengths to abide by them and assure her tenants do the same. 
Bechard doesn't allow "illegal acts or business" to be carried out on 
the property, including "trafficking of drugs," and makes tenants 
sign waivers to this effect before they move in.

This summer, she suspected a couple that had just moved into the 
apartment next to hers were trafficking drugs. Guests coming and 
going at all hours of the day and night, the noise, stragglers 
lurking outside the building and the tell-tale smell all suggested to 
Bechard that this couple was using the apartment as a base for selling drugs.

This, of course, cast a pall over the building and its other tenants. 
It only takes one bad neighbour to ruin it for everyone else. 
Realizing this, Bechard took matters into her own hands. First, she 
approached the couple and told them their behaviour was not welcome, 
and continued to deliver that message over a period of time. Second, 
she approached the authorities to deal with the couple. Neither 
Greater Sudbury Police nor the Ontario Rental Housing Tribunal, 
however, proved to be much help.

The police told Bechard her suspicions were likely correct -- the 
couple was already known to them. But they also told her there was 
nothing they could do to this couple until enough evidence had been 
gathered to apply for a search warrant. Without a search warrant, 
however, whatever was going on in that apartment would likely remain a secret.

The criteria for obtaining a search warrant in Ontario, Greater 
Sudbury Police Sgt. Peter Orsino told The Star, have become more 
difficult to meet than in years past. All the police could advise 
Bechard to do was watch the couple closely, keep track of the people 
and the licence plates of vehicles that come and go and report loud 
music and threatening behaviour to the police.

In the end, the law is stacked against law-abiding tenants. For 
suspected drug dealers, a basic understanding of the law is all that 
is needed to stay ahead of it.

Bechard, however, would not be deterred. She continued to pester the 
couple by watching them, knocking on their door in the middle of the 
night and staying in touch with the police and, in the end, was able 
to wear them down. The couple finally grew tired of the attention -- 
anonymity is preferred in that line of work -- and left on their own.

So, while Bechard appeared to win, really no one did: This couple 
simply moved to another apartment and is likely carrying on as 
before. Police can still do little more than watch them, and the 
attendant problems of drug trafficking have been passed on to a new 
set of neighbours.

While Bechard's tenacity and courage are to be applauded, it's clear 
that until police have the tools to help citizens who care as much as 
her, drug traffickers will continue to thrive.