How police track the latest drug trends in Waterloo Region
Melanie Ferrier | CBC News | Posted: September 10, 2015 4:25 PM | Last Updated: September 11, 2015
With drug trends constantly changing, Waterloo Regional Police say collaboration is key to keeping regional streets clean.
According to police statistics, the region saw a 200 per cent increase in meth seized between 2013 and 2014 and a 75 per cent decrease in crack seized over the same time.
"Drug enforcement, drug users, drug abusers—it's very fluid," said Staff Sgt. Shirley Hilton, head of the region's drug unit. "The predictability of it is, it's unpredictable."
The predictability of it is, it's unpredictable. - Staff Sgt. Shirley Hilton
To keep track of what is going on at street level, Hilton says she depends on information from the community.
"For instance, are we having an increase in overdoses? Are we getting information from Crime Stoppers and the community, concerned about a particular drug? That helps my focus in terms of what we are going to enforce."
"Waterloo Region is not an island"
When it comes to information, one organization Hilton said she relies on is the region's Crime Prevention Council.
Community Engagement Coordinator Michael Parkinson said that, because Ontario doesn't formally monitor drug use, tracking a drug trend involves a lot of old-fashioned communication.
"You keep in touch with people in the community: people who are doing direct service, people who are actively using substances, people who are engaged in health services, criminal justice services."
Parkinson said he also keeps tabs on what is happening in other communities, both in Ontario, in Canada and in the United States.
"Waterloo Region is not an island unto itself. We know that when bootleg Fentanyl, for example, hits Toronto, we're only an hour away and if it's not here yet, it's definitely on its way."
"Labour intensive" and "very expensive"
Parkinson isn't the only one looking outside the community for clues. It's Det. Staff Sgt. Bill O'Shea's job to track drug trends in southwestern Ontario for the Ontario Provincial Police.
He works closely with the Waterloo Police Service and other local services because his job often takes him onto their turf.
Unlike the sophisticated, high-tech drug busts staged on TV cop shows, O'Shea said in reality his work is nowhere near as glamourous. It takes a lot of time, a lot of money, and, often, a lot of undercover work.
"We have to prioritize those types of investigations, because they're labour intensive and they're very expensive," he said. "You know, we're the one part of policing—I always say—that costs money to make something good happen at the end of the day."