Yellowknife (Mar 28/03) - The RCMP is looking at radical new ways of solving Yellowknife's drinking problem. And they want the community to get involved.

Right now, the Yellowknife RCMP detachment functions almost like a shelter for intoxicated people.

The police respond to calls, pick up intoxicated people, lodge them in cells and release them when sober. Often, the same people are picked up again hours later.

This places a heavy strain on police resources. Police spend half their time dealing with alcohol-related complaints, Const. Tammy Gramiak testified at the Archie Tsetta inquest this week

Treating alcohol abuse as a policing problem, isn't working, said Const. Dino Norris. It doesn't help people quit drinking or address their underlying issues. If anything, he said, alcohol abuse is just getting worse in Yellowknife.

"We don't want to use the Criminal Code to deal with the issue," he said. "We want the community to deal with the issue."

Norris is now working full time on researching fresh, community-based approaches to fighting the problem.

In May, Norris and others will travel to a community that is taking charge of the problem. In Anchorage, Alaska, police don't respond to calls about public intoxication. Volunteers and medical staff bring these people to a facility where they stay and hopefully get help.

Norris is hoping Yellowknife will adopt a similar approach, that could be rolled out across the North.

He's asking government, businesses and the community to get together and brainstorm for fresh solutions. This week, he handed out letters to businesses inviting them to a private meeting on April 3. A public meeting will also take place in late April or May.

Although the RCMP is organizing this initiative, said Norris, they want the community to eventually lead the charge and recognize alcohol abuse as a community problem.

Being intoxicated in public has become far too socially acceptable here, he said. Some people even find it entertaining to watch people spilling out of bars on 5Oth street at closing time.

"That's not a form of entertainment. That's people suffering," said Norris.

"... I don't think anyone has chosen to live a life of lying on the side of the road."