The High Cost of Combatting Crime

The High Cost of Combatting Crime

Crime-fighting carries a high price for some members of Winnipeg's North Point Douglas residents association. For more than a year they've waged war against the crack shacks, dealers and gangs that plague their tiny, inner-city neighbourhood, tucked in a bend in the Red River - a fight chronicled by Maclean's in its national CRIME rankings issue, on March 24. The association, under the leadership of chair Sel Burrows and a fellow band of fed-up residents, is lauded as an inspiring example of community activism by Mayor Sam Katz and police Chief Keith McCaskill. Citizen patrols restored some order to the streets. The association successfully pushed for tougher bylaw and housing standards enforcement, a greater police presence and better recreational and education opportunities. Most of the areas's 30 drug houses were shut down. Also drastically curtailed were the gangs of young toughs who had roamed with impunity, dealing drugs from bicycles and contributing to an epidemic of property crime.

Such success hurt the bottom line of Winnipeg's notorious inner-city gangs, says Burrows. "As soon as we started pushing them, they pushed back." And Burrows, a deceptively soft-spoken one-time city recreation director, carries the scars. Last spring, he intervened after a boy in the neighbourhood was threatened by a group of young gang members. "I just went out and shooed them away, and forgot that I was 54," he says. He was smashed in the face, the damage so severe his eyeball is now held in place with a high-tech plastic plate, screwed into his skull. The assault only caused Burrows to escalate his campaign. Again, there were consequences.

One unnamed member of the association's "safety team" was driven from the community, says Burrows. Then, outspoken community advocates Lori and Peter Toth moved last month for their own safety. The Toths had equipped their rented house on Austin Street with numerous video cameras, some pointed at the street. Within months they captured video of an arson at a nearby house, an assault on a cab driver and a number of drug deals. Retaliation began this spring. Almost every ground floor window of their home was systematically broken. Tape of some of the vandalism was turned over to police, but so far no charges have been laid.

The last straw came in the early hours of April 29 when their van was firebombed. "We woke up to a huge orange ball outside the living room window," said Lori. "It was hot enough you could actually feel the heat inside the house." Maclean's spoke several times with the Toths after the attacks but agreed not to publish a story while they remained in the house. "I've had my van blown up," said Peter. "I don't want the house to be next, at least not while I'm in it." Not only did they feel physically threatened, they risked financial ruin. Parts of the R2W postal code have such a bad reputation that homeowner's insurance is difficult to obtain, and tenant's insurance is virtually impossible to buy.

The Toths have since moved. "We're in a nice, quiet neighbourhood now," says Peter. "Lori can actually walk to the store by herself without having to worry, or having to take the dogs and the cellphone with her." Still, it rankles Peter that the police were unable to protect them and they were driven out like victims in a Wild West movie.

Chief McCaskill, just six months into his job, says the Toths and Burrows had unfortunately become a "focal point" of criminal activity, but it's not an indicator the area is falling back into chaos. "Although it's still not perfect and there's a way to go, they've done an unbelievable job there over the last number of months," he says of the community association. "There's still drug activity there, but I'll tell you it's nothing like it was and that was because of the community." At the end of May, McCaskill rolled out six new community support units, one for each police district. The 67 members will be deployed into regions like Point Douglas in consultation with the communities. Some may walk beats, depending on need; all are there to build "relationships" and to support local priorities. Policing can only do so much to deter crime, he says. "I really believe the community has to drive the initiatives to find out how to resolve situations." He feels "bad" that the Toths were forced to flee. But, he stresses, "I don't think the bad guys are winning."

Burrows and the Toths concur. Burrows recently had a brick thrown through a car window and his tires slashed - indications, in his view, the gangs are desperate and on the ropes. "They know there are people on every block keeping an eye on who is dealing and who isn't." Says Peter Toth: "They won this fight, they didn't win the war."

Maclean's June 23, 2008