THE SUCCESS OF SURREY'S ANTI-CRIME PLAN SHOULD BE JUDGED ON ITS
RESULTS

Criminology professor Darryl Plecas, who advised Surrey Mayor Diane
Watts on her city's new Crime Reduction Strategy, predicted that the
program could produce a 25-per-cent reduction in crime "over the next
couple of years."

That would be an extraordinary accomplishment if the University
College of the Fraser Valley professor is right, but we'll have to
wait to see if the program lives up to its advance billing.

Indeed, the most striking thing about the program thus far is the
rhetoric that accompanied the announcement of the strategy. In a press
release, for example, Surrey describes the program as a "complete
paradigm shift from what is currently being done in Canadian
municipalities to combat crime."

Now people are naturally skeptical when they hear overblown rhetoric
from politicians, and in this case a healthy dose of skepticism is
certainly advisable.

After all, many of the elements of the crime reduction strategy, which
is modeled on one that has realized some success in Britain, already
exist or have been tried, in other cities.

For example, the strategy calls for the implementation of closed
circuit cameras, a practice that received much attention in Britain
after the subway bombings in July 2005, and which has also been
discussed in Vancouver.

Surrey also plans to establish a model for a community court system,
which has been implemented in many jurisdictions. In fact, Vancouver
has operated drug courts for a number of years.

Another proposal involves the provision of more social housing,
including adding 300 affordable housing beds by 2008. Affordable
housing has, of course, been the subject of much discussion in
Vancouver, with Mayor Sam Sullivan's Project Civil City promising an
increase in the number of social housing units.

Similarly, although the strategy doesn't make an explicit call for
more addiction treatment, as many jurisdictions including Vancouver
have called for, it does suggest that community drug action teams be
established to help vulnerable people access social services.

Although these proposals are nothing new, some elements of the
strategy are more innovative. Rather than simply proposing stiffer
sentences for offenders, which is a popular approach currently, the
strategy does aim at attacking the root causes of crime.

It also emphasizes coordination among various agencies, and this is
particularly important since many government strategies falter and
fail because one agency doesn't know what another is doing.

The program's plan to follow prolific offenders through the justice
system to ensure they receive appropriate sentences is worthwhile, as
is the proposal to establish a community justice resource team to
ensure that offenders receive appropriate treatment.

Finally, the plan calls for an evaluation of the strategy to see
what's working and what isn't, and to make the necessary adjustments
to ensure that its aims are realized.

Of course, it will be some time before we know if the strategy's
ultimate aim -- a significant reduction in Surrey's crime rate -- is
realized, and that will be the real measure of the program's success.