DIGGING AT THE ROOTS OF CRIME ISSUES

Get tough on crime. It's a refrain that has been heard countless times
from frustrated citizens and law enforcement officers weary of the
revolving door the criminal justice system represents to repeat offenders.

Yet, although many see longer jail terms as the solution, the hard
reality is that they do not address the root causes of crime.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts understands this critical fact, and it is
upon this which her new crime reduction strategy is built.

The City of Surrey is about to embark on an ambitious new program of
addressing crime where it primarily lives, and that is in drugs, drug
addiction, homelessness and mental illness.

The strategy rolled out by Watts and her team of more than 100
contributors from all areas of social and justice services includes
four strands: Prevent and deter crime; apprehend and prosecute
offenders; rehabilitation and reintegration; and the reality and
perception of crime.

Key to these approaches are closed circuit TV cameras in high crime
areas, greater coordination and collaboration between social services,
law enforcement and three levels of government.

The cameras will be implemented this year, mostly in high-crime areas
such as SkyTrain stations and shopping mall parking lots. The camera
program is modelled after a similar system in the United Kingdom which
saw drops in property crime of up to 40 per cent.

Perhaps the most bold move is the intention to create a community
court, where the focus is on mandatory treatment of addiction and
rehabilitation, rather than simple incarceration.

Also important is an intent to provide more affordable housing in the
city.

Watts hopes to have 300 new affordable homes in this city next year by
offering developers higher densities in exchange for more inexpensive
housing.

Obviously, major elements of this strategy are dependent upon
provincial and federal assistance and cooperation.

Provincial officials such as Attorney General Wally Oppal maintain
they are on side, acknowledging that crime reduction in the future
cannot be patterned upon the traditional charge-sentence-imprison
formula of the past several decades.

That has proven hugely expensive, largely inefficient, and most
importantly, essentially ineffective.

Criminal behaviour must be addressed at its very roots, rather than
its results.

Watts and the City of Surrey have taken that initiative, providing a
fresh vision that holds long-term effects and benefits, not just for
this city, but for many others that will likely follow suit when
evidence grows that the strategy works.

Criminologists estimate that Surrey's four-tier approach could reduce
crime by as much as 25 per cent -- perhaps even higher in specific
areas.

It is critical, however, that the more senior levels of government
step up to do their part.

From them, we expect energetic strides, not token posturing. That
means quick approval and funding for affordable housing projects and
more shelter beds.

It requires expedited creation of the community court system, and the
requisite provincial investment of resources and budget.

It means focused effort to coordinate government services, with common
objectives.

Surrey has taken the first bold step, but cannot go the full distance
alone.