Pubdate: Tue, 02 May 2006 Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Kamloops Daily News Contact: http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?131 (Heroin Maintenance) Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topics/NAOMI (North American Opiate Maintenance Project) ACADEMIC BRINGS UNIQUE ROLE TO CRIME-PREVENTION POSITION An academic who studied the impact of heroin use on Vancouver's Downtown East Side has stepped into the role of the city's new crime-prevention officer. Mark Huhn started the job Monday following an official announcement by Mayor Terry Lake. He fills a role vacated by Pete Backus, who dropped out partway through his one-year contract with the city last September to run for mayor. Unlike Backus, who was a former RCMP officer, Huhn's background is in research and crime-reduction strategies. Lake said this made Huhn an ideal candidate for the job. "We thought that given Mark's background in research and his ability to go on the street in one of the roughest neighbourhoods in Canada would serve him well in working with community groups in Kamloops and understanding the types of problems we're facing here," he said. Lake was referring to Huhn's work with the North American Opiate Maintenance Project (NAOMI). NAOMI tracks heroin addicts to see if prescribed heroin is better than methadone for treatment while monitoring whether giving the drug for free would reduce homelessness and crime. Huhn said he will use the knowledge he gained while working with NAOMI and apply it to his job here. "In any urban area you have the same problems regardless of size," he said. His other duties include collecting and analysing statistics, developing crime-prevention performance measures and working with business groups and neighbourhoods to develop crime-prevention strategies. Lake said this includes working with Kamloops RCMP and the downtown business association's Central Ambassador Program, which returns to city streets June 1. RCMP Supt. Jim Begley said the police foot patrol starts operating out of the North and South Shore community policing offices in time for the May 20 long weekend. Constables Mark Price and George Buttuls will alternate between both sides of the river. Huhn moved to Vancouver from Saskatchewan in 2003 and is now settling in Kamloops. He is completing his PhD in criminology at Simon Fraser University. His research on crime-reduction strategies is being done in consultation with RCMP E-Division headquarters, SFU and the Institute for Canadian Research Studies, he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom