Point Douglas in the News

Press Release - Sept 11/09

Point Douglas

Citizens on Watch (COWS) Point.Powerline

Community Policing Huge Success in Point Douglas

With well over 100 citizens involved in Crime Prevention through the Point Douglas Powerline (an anonymous phone and email line run by volunteers), our community has been working closely with the Winnipeg Police Service and the Police Community Support Unit.

This week that relationship showed amazing results. Neighbours on two streets had identified the leaders of small groups of youth who were selling crack from between houses. In two different actions the police arrested the ring leaders. One was found to have 32 ‘rocks’ of crack in his possession.

The police officers involved were searching one apartment after the arrest when there was a loud knocking at the door and a man yelling...”open up...I want a couple of rocks”. You can imagine his surprise when the police opened the apartment door and invited him in.

Two days later another guy was pounding on that apartment door. A neighbour asked him if he needed any help. The fellow said, “I’m looking for my buddy so I can score some crack”. The neighbour in the lovely bluntness one finds in the inner city replied. “Your buddy is in jail. Get the F*** out of here or I’ll call the cops and you’ll join him.” The fellow was last seen scurrying down the street.

There is real power for neighbours knowing they aren’t alone in wanting to stop crime .

The Point Douglas Powerline has enabled neighbours who want a safe neighbourhood to communicate their concerns with no threat of retaliation.

Recently a gang member told one of our residents, “we stay out of Point Douglas, Too many people watchin.”

The Police in District 3 , have incorporated a new structure so that the police officers work the same community on an ongoing basis. This allows the Powerline to provide more detailed background of criminals or alert them to incipient crime. The response time to concerns has increased immensely. When we first set out to “Make Point Douglas A Crack Free Zone” two years ago, it would often take months to deal with an issue. Now, with improved police systems and an active community, most situations are dealt with in days or weeks.

I say most because we know there are certain criminals in our community that are skilled or sneaky enough to escape our ‘eyes on the street’. However, just keeping the bad guys nervously looking over their shoulder protects the community. We know the main crack supplier doesn’t live in Point Douglas but in a large house in a very pleasant neighbourhood. Could she be your neighbour?

Recently Point Douglas Powerline has added a whole new tactic to our toolkit to keep the bad guys on the run. Previously we had a few landlords we worked with who would actively cooperate with us in evicting criminals. Now we have discovered that the huge majority of landlords are willing to work towards making our community safe. Many of the younger ganglet members are couch surfers. They move in with relatives, girl friends and use that address as a base for their criminal activities. We now have many landlords, including several very large ones, who will go to their legitimate tenant and tell them they are responsible for what goes on in their suite. Get the bad guy out or you face eviction. Many tenants find this really empowering , having a concrete reason to tell the kid to get out. This saves the police a lot of time so they can focus on the more serious criminals.

One landlord recently evicted a young man and his friends who were caught with crack. While one will probably spend a long time in the youth centre the other two have indicated they want out of the ganglet subculture.

We have learned in tackling crime that no one solution fits all. We need the police for the heavy lifting, for the dangerous ones. However, when the community sends a strong message that criminal behaviour is not accepted, a lot of crime is prevented.

We occasionally face criticism with our crime prevention methods. We know they aren’t perfect, but with the increased community orientation of the police and over 100 neighbours involved, Point Douglas is fast moving from a high crime area to a low crime area.

Chris Burrows

Coordinator, Point Douglas Powerline

956-4090 point.powerline@yahoo.com

Residents cautious about park plan: Point Douglas group waiting to learn more - POINT Douglas residents seem to be waiting for a concrete proposal from Premier Gary Doer before getting too excited about the idea of a provincial park in their midst.

Doer's surprise proposal -- made some time ago in a breakfast meeting with a few community activists and revealed last week by the Free Press -- wasn't mentioned once at a community meeting sponsored by the Point Douglas Residents Committee Thursday afternoon. (read full article) - Winnipeg Free Press, July 24, 2009

Point Douglas getting rid of drug dealers one at a time -- Point Douglas has had its problems but in the last two years, in response to the appeals from grade 5 and 6 kids at Norquay School, the community has taken back its streets from drug dealers.

Point Douglas has over 100 anonymous people who keep an eye around their own homes, watching for crack dealers, gangs, ganglets and other stuff that degrades a community and report it on a phone line we call "Powerline." As a result, we have had our share of drug busts and gang arrests in partnership with the police and Manitoba Justice. (read full article) - by Sel Burrows, Winnipeg Free Press, July 19, 2009

King Gary Decrees a Park -- KING Gary has revealed yet another point in his unilateral plan to improve Winnipeg, this time plopping a provincial park in the middle of a vibrant, rejuvenating heritage neighbourhood in the North End.

The Point residents have worked hard to turn around a once-dismal, seedy area into a place where people can raise kids, go to school, start a business. Home ownership is rising, but still sits at about a third of residential properties. Some absentee landlords own three or four properties, some of which sit empty. The war against the crack houses and the street gangs is being won. There is hope. (read full article) - Editorial, Winnipeg Free Press, July 18, 2009

Point Douglas Park? - Doer touts provincial designation for historic riverside -- Point Douglas won't be home to the new Blue Bomber football stadium, but if Premier Gary Doer gets his way, it will get a provincial park.

"I want to get the debate going, I want to get the discussion going and I want us as a community to seize the opportunity," Doer said in an interview Wednesday.

He said a formal plan has yet to be developed, but his goal is to preserve and develop the area along the Red River in Point Douglas as a public asset for "walking, cycling (and) viewing the river." (read full article) - Winnipeg Free Press, July 15, 2009

Province boosts rec centre hours: Funding aimed at inner-city kids -- The provincial government is spending $1.3 million to extend the hours that 10 Winnipeg inner-city recreation centres are open by more than 50 per cent. Many of the centres will soon be open seven days a week, instead of five, and will stay open later in the evening. The new funding will also allow for the hiring of 20 full- and part-time recreation leaders who will develop and help deliver programming for kids. (read full story) - Winnipeg Free Press, July 10, 2009

Tries to save friend, city artist drowns: 'Passionate about working with children' -- Darryle Caribou didn't hesitate to jump into the raging Red River to try to save a friend last Friday afternoon. Three days later, his body washed ashore. On Wednesday, police identified Caribou, 26, as the man who went missing Friday afternoon. They had recovered his body Monday afternoon near the Provencher Bridge. Caribou was an aboriginal artist, well-known in the Point Douglas community. (Read full story) - Winnipeg Free Press, July 11, 2009

Empty houses should not be left to ruin: Two very different articles shared a common theme that I feel must be addressed, and quickly. In the article City in a growth spurt (June 17) it is stated that "Winnipeg desperately needs more multi-family housing to accommodate this growth ..." and further notes that "Winnipeg already has a housing crisis, as the residential vacancy rate now stands at less than one per cent." An article in a subsequent paper (Fire at vacant house no shock: neighbours, June 20) notes that the house destroyed by fire was a derelict eyesore for years, and the city does nothing to resolve the situation. (read full story)

Point Douglas to get early childhood education centre