PLAINCLOTHES UNIT ADDS PUNCH

Drayton Valley Western Review -- Drayton Valley RCMP now have two more weapons for their arsenal in their war against drugs.

For just over a month, two plainclothes officers have made up the detachment's new General Investigation Section which aims to focus on the town's growing drug problems.

Although Drayton's drug problems seem to be the main drive for most criminal activity, most RCMP officers are kept busy filing paperwork, responding to accident calls or traffic patrol.

Now, with officers Andrew Boxall and Steve Browne, the GIS will be able to gather as much information as possible and focus only on the tasks ahead of them -- ridding the town of drugs and the problems that follow.  They've already served four warrants in the month they've been operating.

"We're not undercover operators; we wouldn't be involved in a sting.  We're different because we're not answering complaints and calls.  Most of our job is going to be intelligence gathering.  Mostly it will be co-ordinating efforts to certain targets," said Boxall.

"I think there was a very serious need in town for a unit like this.  For a detachment and town of this size, you don't often see a unit like this one.  But the problem is so great; we're getting information every shift that we're passing up," said Browne.

"The special section was first looked at by the town's mayor and council in order to employ some method to deal with the drug issues in the community.  We decided to have a plainclothes unit," said Staff Sgt.  Steve Harrington.

Initially the Town was looking at having a drug section rather than the GIS unit.  That idea was nixed because the GIS affords more flexibility for the two officers.  They can now investigate other matters which may relate to information they've gathered such as the many thefts, break and enters and assaults that seem to walk hand-in-hand with drug crimes.

The two officers were chosen by Harrington because of their skills in gathering information, dealing with informants and being able to act on them.  "You have to have better than average abilities.  These guys are in that category based on their history and their prior work.  They've demonstrated that they can do those things and do them well," said Harrington.

As far as convictions go, the matter is still left to the justice system and is out of the hands of enforcement.  They still must apply for a warrant the same as traditional RCMP members.

"We can act on a warrant immediately whereas a detachment member might get started on a warrant and be called out," said Boxall.  The two officers will still work closely with other RCMP members to help battle the onslaught of drugs yet, they say, it's still up to the public at large.

"We can only act on information we receive and if you're not part of the solution, you're a part of the problem, said Harrington.  "Right now we're only getting the very tip of the iceberg."