By Taylor MacPherson

Police chief addresses drug issues in keynote

Sep 22, 2017 | 12:00 PM

Crystal meth, opiates and marijuana are all creating problems for the city police, according to Chief Troy Cooper.

The police chief spoke frankly about the city’s current and future issues with drugs during his keynote address at a well-attended luncheon hosted by the Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce Thursday. Cooper’s speech touched on the rise of crystal meth and its ongoing impacts on policing, as well as the efforts by the police service to prepare for an influx of fentanyl and the upcoming legalization of marijuana.

Since the crystal meth epidemic began in 2015, Cooper said firearm seizures have risen steadily, which creates serious safety concerns for frontline officers. Meth addiction is severe, Cooper said, and contributes directly to the rise in break-and-enters and other property crimes. This puts a strain on limited police resources as they enforce not only the drug laws but also the property crimes resulting from addictions.

The chief said the police service have stepped up their drug enforcement efforts in response including increased work with integrated teams involving multiple police agencies, but noted meth has other insidious impacts on a community, especially when it comes to mental health.

“Crystal meth causes psychosis,” Cooper said. “It makes people paranoid. It makes them want to start carrying handguns around.”

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The mental health impacts of meth are visible in the number of attempted suicide calls the police service receives, Cooper said. In 2012 the department received just 93 calls for individuals attempting suicide, he said, and last year the police fielded 247.

Prince Albert has largely been spared the fentanyl crisis which has led to hundreds of overdose deaths in British Columbia, Cooper said, but the department is being proactive so they’re ready to respond. Drug enforcement has increased, he said, and the police have also received training in naloxone, an opiate-blocker administered to negate the effects of an opiate overdose.

“If we find someone overdosing, we can help them,” Cooper said.

Fentanyl is not the only drug casting a shadow over Canadian police departments, Cooper said, as the federal Liberal government’s deadline for Canada-wide marijuana legalization is looming on the horizon with many important questions still unanswered.

The police currently have no method for testing drivers who they suspect to be impaired by marijuana, he said. Other issues Cooper cited included the regulations around personal cultivation, the legal age of consumption and how to keep children from having access.

“We don’t know any of those things and we know we have a deadline,” Cooper said. “We haven’t had enough time.”

Cooper said the Prince Albert Police Service has joined with many other Canadian police agencies to request the federal deadline be moved back to allow for the issues to be addressed prior to legalization. Even issues such as the seizure of live marijuana plants can create problems for police, the chief said, because they are not equipped with a greenhouse or the training required to care for specialty plants.

“We can’t keep our own plants alive, much less someone else’s,” Cooper said, drawing laughs from the crowd.

Despite the current and anticipated drug-related challenges facing the city police, Cooper reassured those in attendance that the police are making good headway on all of the issues.

“Today I talked a bit about pressures and challenges and what seems like a pretty daunting future for police around drugs, but we have a really great staff in P.A.,” Cooper said. “We’ve got incredibly well-trained officers and we have this under control.”

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews