Pubdate: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 Source: Sherwood Park News (CN AB) Copyright: 2007 Sherwood Park News Contact: http://cgi.bowesonline.com/pedro.php?id=22&x=contact Website: http://www.sherwoodparknews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1730 Author: Dave S. Clark Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) DRUG-ENDANGERED CHILDREN WILL GET HELP Police Trained To Help Kids Who Are At Risk Twenty-five police officers from the Capital Region are being trained in a course on investigating drug-endangered children. The course was held last week in Edmonton for several police agencies as well as Alberta Children's and Family Services investigators and several firefighters. One member of the Strathcona RCMP took part in the training. "It's just another way that we can help protect children," said Const. Darren Anderson, spokesman of the Strathcona RCMP. The program focused on how to deal with the children that police sometimes find living in the drug houses and marijuana grow operations they've raided. "It's becoming more frequent, unfortunately," said Staff Sgt. Ian Sanderson of the drugs and organized crime awareness section of the RCMP. "We see the marijuana cultivators using the children living at home as decoys so that it doesn't look like a quintessential grow-op home. . . There has to be a realization by people living in these homes, each one has immediate dangers." In the spring sitting of the legislature, former children's services minister Heather Forsyth introduced the Drug Endangered Children Act, which became law on Nov. 1, 2006. It allows police and caseworkers to take kids into custody based solely on the fact they're "drug-endangered." "I'm a dad. I've got a couple of kids of my own and you have to find it within yourself to remain professional when you're dealing with those situations because they're absolutely heart-wrenching," said Cpl. Ian Gillan of the joint RCMP-Edmonton Police Service green team. He'll work with kids found in grow operations and meth labs. "They look like anybody's kids," he said, adding many of the children are unwashed and have greasy hair. "I've seen kids that are undernourished. Sometimes they've got a few bruises on them." The training scenarios, run by Mounties with help from two California cops, included a room that portrayed a typical drug house: an unmade bed, pizza boxes, pajamas and animal food strewn around, a knife, gun and bullets nearby. There's also Sudafed, acetone, a jerry can, ephedrine and hydrogen peroxide -- used to make meth -- in the washroom. "Those particular style of houses are extremely common," said Gillan. "What's uncommon about that room is the meth-lab production equipment. We don't find that very often. I've been in numerous crack and meth addict homes and those rooms up there are nice compared to those sort of setups." Anderson said that although the problem of drug-endangered children may be emerging as a bigger issue in the Capital Region, it is yet to be a major problem in Strathcona County. "There have been (marijuana) grow-ops but we haven't seen a full-blown meth lab in a long time," he said. "But we have to be prepared to help those innocent children." With files from the Edmonton Sun. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek