Charlottetown not part of new P.E.I. police team aimed at curbing drugs, organized crime

The province is funding a new collaborative police unit to help clean up the drug problem on Prince Edward Island, but the Island's largest municipal force says it doesn't want to be involved.

The provincial government is spending about $800,000 on the new Joint Enforcement Team, or JET, which launched about two weeks ago with a focus on the illicit drug trade and organized crime. 

Seven officers make up the unit, including four from the RCMP, two from Summerside Police Services, and one member from the Kensington police agency. 

"All Islanders have seen the devastating effects of drugs in our communities, and organized crime behind this [does] not operate with the constraints of borders or jurisdictions," said Cpl. Gavin Moore, the P.E.I. RCMP's media relations officer. 

"This unit aims to go up the organized crime ladder and address those at higher rungs bringing drugs to P.E.I."

Charlottetown Police Services, though, has decided not to be a part of JET. 

Mayor Philip Brown and police Chief Brad MacConnell recently wrote a joint letter to P.E.I. Justice and Public Safety Minister Bloyce Thompson, saying the city's officers are responsible for the majority of drug enforcement efforts and seizures in the province.  

"[The province] through its Department of Justice and Public Safety continues to demonstrate unfair and biased practices that place disproportionate burdens on our city, while failing to provide equitable support to our mandate," the letter states. 

"While we remain committed to public safety, our ability to sustain these efforts without fair and consistent provincial investment has become unsustainable for our city." 

That letter goes on to say that Charlottetown police support the province in critical areas such as mental health, social issues and technology-based policing. 

The city was also critical of JET, saying a more "fulsome strategy" that tackles the root causes of drug trafficking is needed. It argues the new team does not address the demand for drugs.  

'It's getting out of control'

Thompson told CBC News last week that he hopes Charlottetown Police Services will eventually decide to come on board with JET. 

"They feel they have the adequate resources to do their own work," the minister said of the city force's drug-fighting operations. "Everybody seems to be working together, so we hope Charlottetown comes in and helps out too." 

The new team already had its first arrest. A search of a Summerside home led to charges and the seizure of drugs and weapons last week. 

RCMP said the new team will work with Charlottetown police, even if the city force isn't part of the new unit. Moore said no areas of P.E.I. are off-limits, so the investigations will include the capital city.   

"We are following a model of integration," he said. "We certainly will work with Charlottetown to address drugs, as this unit will be a provincewide unit." 

The justice minister said the team's cross-Island crackdown on illegal drugs and organized crime is necessary, before the problem gets worse. 

"We have to put a focus on this. It's getting out of control and we really want to be tough on drugs. It's affecting Islanders, it's affecting families, so it's got to stop," Thompson said. "Fentanyl is on this island. We can think it's not, but it is. And we can't let that continue to take hold here. 

"Are we as bad as other places in the country? No, but we will be if we don't take control of this."