Pubdate: Sat, 03 Jun 2006
Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2006 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact:  http://thechronicleherald.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Dan Arsenault, Crime Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

POLICE TEACHING HARD LESSONS

Night Patrol With The Police Shows Challenges They Face In Youth Crime

Two groups of teenaged boys picked a pretty place to  get high on a 
recent Friday evening, but the timing of  their visit to Bedford's 
Admiral Rock Park couldn't  have been worse.

That's because Staff Sgt. Richard Lane, commander of  the Halifax 
Regional Police west division, wanted to  discuss his concerns about 
youth crime and spent the  evening showing this reporter some of the 
local trouble  spots.

After checking out graffiti at the Bedford Lions  playground we went 
to Admiral's Rock Park, arriving  around 5:30 p.m.

Just a few steps into woods off Snowy Owl Drive, the  trees open to 
reveal a stunning vista of Halifax  Harbour.

Standing atop a 10-metre cliff, the downtown skyline  and Halifax 
Harbour bridges provide a beautiful  contrast to the shimmering 
waters of Bedford Basin.

Soon the chatter of young voices reaches us from below.  So does the 
unmistakable smell of pot.

Staff Sgt. Lane quickly moves his massive frame over  some big rocks 
on a winding path and confronts three  average-looking boys who turn 
out to be 17 and 18.

The tallest kid has headphones around his neck, a ball  cap on 
backward and a cellphone in hand. One wears  jeans and a T-shirt and 
the other a sweater, corduroy  pants and flip-flops.

Staff Sgt. Lane asks if they were smoking dope.  Nervously, they say 
no and he tells them he hates being  lied to.

He warns them not to move as he checks their pockets.  The flip-flops 
wearer has a lighter and some Visine, an  eye solution that prevents 
bloodshot eyes caused by pot  use.

The next boy's pockets hold about a spoonful of  marijuana in tinfoil.

Staff Sgt. Lane radioes for another officer to meet us  and has the 
kids walk to their car. He carries their  identification and gives 
them stern instructions, but  talks casually about other things, even 
teasing that  the boy's flip-flops are "his sister's sandals."

The boys look sick with worry as Staff Sgt. Lane asks  if there's 
more dope in their small green Mazda.

They say no but he reminds them how he hates lies.

"I've got some," one boy answers. "I'm not going to lie  to you."

He and another boy go to the car and both return with  four grams. 
Staff Sgt. Lane asks what they paid -- one  spent $30 and the other 
$40 -- and then chides them for  what looks like poor-quality weed. 
For about 20  minutes, Staff Sgt. Lane has the anxious boys wait on 
the hood of their car while he checks to see if they've  been in 
trouble before.

They haven't and it's apparent that the officer  appreciates their 
good manners and clean records.

Const. James Bennett arrives to help and the officers  say they can't 
just let the boys go, because they're  high and can't drive. They 
make them call their parents  to say they're taking the bus home.

The first boy speaks quietly into Const. Bennett's cellphone.

"Guess what mom," he says. "The cops just busted me for  smoking 
dope. They wanted me to call you because I  can't take the car from 
here because I'm impaired."

Then Const. Bennett talks to her. The other boys make  the same 
disheartening calls and Const. Bennett takes  them to a bus stop. 
Later, Staff Sgt. Lane explains in  an interview why the kids got off 
with a good scare and  a call home.

"Quite often that's a better fit for this type of  crime, rather than 
clogging up the court system for  small amounts of marijuana.

"We could have charged them with possession of the  drug, but . . . 
here's these three that I would  consider decent kids that have never 
been in trouble .  . . that needed to learn a lesson. I felt that was 
the  way to learn that lesson."

 From the park, Staff Sgt. Lane drives to a  graffiti-covered underpass.

The site, which has paved walls and a roadway going  over an 
abandoned field, is a wild display of colours  and images.

Staff Sgt. Lane says graffiti makes people feel unsafe  and points 
out the litter -- dozens of paint cans,  rollers and other filth -- 
left behind.

Then Const. Bennett radioes to say that five boys  carried liquor 
into the park we were just at.

When we arrive, Const. Bennett is leading the teens out  of the woods 
and says he took a gram of marijuana and a  pint of vodka from them. 
The five, all previously clean  students at a local high school, get 
the same treatment  as the other boys and have to call home.

Over the next few hours, we check out party spots in  wooded areas 
strewn with beer cans and patrol other  parks and schoolyards.

At a house party on High Street in Bedford, Staff Sgt.  Lane chats 
with a father who is allowing his underage  daughter to drink with 
her young friends on the  property.

The father said he wanted to monitor their drinking.  Staff Sgt. Lane 
tells him he'd be legally liable if  anything happened once the kids 
left the party and says  he has grounds to enter the house.

"Instead of being the parent, he tried to be the  friend," Staff Sgt. 
Lane says later.

Other calls come in about a supposed fight involving 40  kids in 
Bedford and a futile attempt to burn a local  school, the second such 
incident in weeks.

Staff Sgt. Lane's division also handles Spryfield, but  we hear no 
calls from that area.

Staff Sgt. Lane said 10-12 officers cover his division  each night 
and about 10-20 per cent of their calls come  from neighbours worried 
about the activities of local  youth.

"It ranges from noise to drinking to vandalism,  throwing rocks at 
cars (and) fights."

During an upcoming police campaign, a quick-response  unit will rush 
into 10 trouble spots in each of the  city's three divisions and take 
a zero-tolerance  approach to any illegal activities it encounters.

Everyone will be charged in the hopes of sending a  message other 
young people will remember throughout the  summer, Staff Sgt. Lane said.

One of the officer's biggest concerns involves parents.  He thinks 
they should know their children's friends and  those children's 
parents and know what they are doing.

"People need to be involved in their kids' lives. Don't  be afraid to 
ask questions, set rules and boundaries  and then we won't have to 
parent for them out on the  street."

'We could have charged them with possession of the  drug, but . . . 
here's these three that I would  consider decent kids that have never 
been in trouble .  . . that needed to learn a lesson. I felt that was 
the  way to learn that lesson.'
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