OUR CITY HAS LOST ITS WAY

Editor: The Record:

If there is any doubt that things are getting a bit out of control in
New Westminster with respect to street crime and street drug activity,
one doesn't have to look any further than the corner of Sixth and Sixth.

While driving home last Saturday night at 11:30 p.m., I decided to
stop at Safeway to pick up a couple of items. As I was making a
right-hand turn onto Sixth Avenue (to head west) from Sixth Street, I
spotted a hooker standing on the corner in front of the CIBC.

I was quite taken aback because, in my 14 years of living in New
Westminster, I have never seen a hooker working on that corner. I
immediately called the report desk at the police station to let them
know.

I recently heard that street drug activity had moved into the uptown
area near the library and Moody Park, but this was the first time that
I had personally witnessed any visible indication of this emerging
problem.

Then, as I was leaving Safeway, a young man, clearly drug-involved and
living on the street, approached me, as well as several other people
who were also heading to their cars, and started asking for money in
an aggressive manner. He was not alone, because as I was driving out
of the Safeway parking lot I saw him consulting with his friend -
someone who was also visibly drug-involved.

As I drove back past the corner of Sixth and Sixth, sure enough, the
same hooker was still standing there working the corner and eyeballing
every car that drove by.

I felt really sorry for her.

Now correct me if I'm wrong, but three years ago, things were really
starting to look up here in New Westminster. We were definitely moving
ahead and there was a feeling of excitement and confidence all over
town.

Now, we seem to have lost that momentum and our town is noticeably
drifting without clear direction.

The wind has definitely gone out of our sails.

Witnessing the kind of drug-based street activity I saw last Saturday
night in the area of Sixth and Sixth tells me that we've not only
slipped backwards during the last three years, and lost the wind in
our sails, it also tells me that we're actually drifting in a far more
perilous direction than where we started out from three years ago.

Am I concerned about it?

You bet.

PATRICK O'CONNOR

New Westminster