Pubdate: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN) Copyright: 2012 The Leader-Post Ltd. Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361 CRIME RISE MERITS CROSS-BORDER EFFORT It might be a little strong to call it "the dark side" of our economic boom, but there's no doubt an increase in crime associated with the Bakken oilfield in south eastern Saskatchewan is cause for concern. And it's not just this province that's feeling the effects - the Bakken play extends into North Dakota and Montana, where police are also dealing with a significant rise in drug trafficking, assaults and traffic offences. All three jurisdictions have seen a huge increase in the number of young men working in the oilpatch and while police on both sides of the border stress most are well-behaved, some are getting into a lot of trouble. Some of these transient workers, with no support system in place, "may perhaps make decisions someone older, or more established with more ties to an area, might do differently," RCMP spokesman Sgt. Paul Dawson told the Leader-post recently. Much of the trouble seen in Saskatchewan thus far has involved an increase in traffic offences that has led to more fatal accidents. A six-officer traffic unit has been created in Estevan to deal with the problem, but officers are also seizing illegal drugs and discovering outstanding warrants for other crimes when they pull drivers over for impaired and aggressive driving. Police and federal agencies south of the border are also beefing up their ranks to deal with rising crime, but in a sign of the times the Associated Press recently reported some are finding it hard to recruit as "qualified applicants will pass over deputy positions that start at less than $20 an hour to take oilfield jobs that pay two to three times as much." About 150 police, border security and other law enforcement officials from Saskatchewan, North Dakota and Montana met for two days recently in Glasgow, Mont., to discuss co-operative crime-fighting strategies. The effort has implications well beyond crime related to the oilpatch. For example, last year, Saskatchewan and U.S. police and law enforcement agencies joined forces in Project Faril, which resulted in the seizure of $16.5 million of cocaine destined for Canada and $1 million in ecstasy pills destined for the U.S. The Regina Integrated Drug Unit (RCMP and Regina Police Service) led Project Faril and allowed Leader-post reporter Barb Pacholik unprecedented access to the investigation over several months, culminating in surveillance and arrests. Once those arrests had been made, Pacholik wrote a series of feature articles detailing the painstaking work that goes into such an investigation. Call it coincidence, but the RCMP in British Columbia are now planning to "embed" a reporter in a similar major investigation. The effort could provide the B.C. Mounties with some welcome positive press after the 2007 taser death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski and allegations of sexual harassment of female RCMP members in that province. The booming oilpatch is a major part of Saskatchewan's current economic success, but the associated rise in crime is a challenge for the affected communities. They will no doubt be reassured by the welcome attention Saskatchewan and U.S. law enforcement agencies are devoting to the issue. As the RCMP'S Sgt. Dawson says, "Criminality moves across borders." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom