Pubdate: Thu, 14 May 2015
Source: Chilliwack Times (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Chilliwack Times
Contact:  http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1357
Author: Paul J. Henderson

LET'S PLAY CRACK SHACK WHACK-A-MOLE

Let the game of crack shack whack-a-mole begin.

After a police bust of a well-known drug house next to Chilliwack
secondary school last week, residents breathed a sigh of relief. And
as arrests were made, other junkies and dealers-who tormented the area
for years-cursed and gestured rudely at neighbours who watched them
scurry away like cockroaches when the lights come on.

The issue of the so-called crack shack in a neighbourhood is not
exclusive to downtown Chilliwack. This is a problem in every city to
varying degrees.

(As for the term "crack shack," it's likely not accurate since most of
them are users of crystal meth. Semantics.)

Insensitive? Politically incorrect? Were the meth-heads and drug
dealers and prostitutes who lived or came and went at all hours from
this house "human" just like the rest of us?

Yes, but most of them were also jerks. Some of them likely have mental
health issues, and many or all have addiction issues. But let's be
honest, most of these people are just insensitive jerks.

Selfish, sociopathic, sadistic, stupid . . . however you want to put
it.

Residents of this small cul-de-sac in Chilliwack next to a high school
have complained for years about criminal behaviour at one house and
then another. Things hit the news in 2013when people making hash oil
in the basement of the house next to Rotary Street resident Deborah
Walker started a fire and trashed the house. Then they moved across
the street and the trouble just grew until last week's crackdown.

Issues such as this sometimes divide along political lines. But there
is a grey area between the lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key folks and
the woe-is-the-poor-drug-addict folks.

There will be no locking up and throwing away keys for petty thefts
and minor drug possession charges. And while some may spew platitudes
about reasons some of these folks are the way they are, there is a
difference between a reason and an excuse. Sympathy is hard to find,
particularly when there is no contrition from the folks I saw
stumbling out of 9562 Rotary St. on May 7. There was only belligerence
and ignorance.

There was also a lot of nonsense spewed by owner Denvar Van Rooi as he
played innocent, while interacting with the woman known by neighbours
to be the "madam" of the house.

Van Rooi knows exactly what went on at his property and after years of
complaints, only reacted when the situation hit the media. And even
then, he didn't and doesn't care. The day after claiming innocence in
a TV interview, Walker tells me Van Rooi was joking with the madam
about their 15 minutes of fame.

Mayor Sharon Gaetz isn't particularly sympathetic with landlords such
as Van Rooi, either.

"The landlord always holds culpability in this regard," Gaetz said.
"We encourage landlords to ensure that they have taken out a criminal
record check on their tenants. We could avoid a lot of issues if
people did that."

So where are the people who came and went from the Rotary Street crack
shack now?

There were the low-level dealers in SUVs with shaved heads and
regrettable tattoos giving neighbours the finger as they came and
went. There were the belligerent stumbling junkie/thieves yanking on
car doors, wandering into backyards to steal whatever, or just
fighting or screaming on the streets at 2 a.m.

But after the bust, they are all gone, right? Of course not. The
people, the dozens and dozens of people (166 in one 10-hour stretch
counted by Walker one day) are still somewhere. A handful of them are
in jail but it's unlikely any of them will spend substantial time
behind bars.

So where are they now?

A resident of Third Avenue contacted me about the Rotary Street bust:
"Those people have moved in two doors down from me and I have two
small children. I dont know what to do."

Walker is sympathetic and, after her incredibly difficult experience,
the PR professional says she should offer assistance on how to get rid
of meth/crack shacks and those who perpetuate them in local
neighbourhoods.

"As happy as we are to see them go, I wouldn't wish this nightmare on
anybody," she tells me.

Wednesday morning the Third Avenue resident said her problem was
already solved. She contacted the owner, who dealt with police and the
squatters at the house were kicked out.

The cockroaches of Rotary Street are gone, but you can be sure they'll
scurry somewhere. Hopefully your neighbourhood isn't next.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt