WE WISH SURREY ALL THE BEST IN 2007 IN ITS FIGHT AGAINST CRIME

Few would question that one of the key issues for Surrey City Hall
this year will be the effectiveness of Mayor Dianne Watts' ambitious
plan to combat crime, using British-style methods.

Last summer, the first-term mayor of B.C.'s second-largest city led a
community group to Britain to study a crime-reduction strategy which,
by all accounts, has been a big success there.

Under this strategy, the root causes of crime -- such as drug
addiction, poverty or mental illness -- are tackled just as vigorously
the prevention or punishment of the crimes themselves.

It's a carrot-and-stick approach that is quite different from the
"harm reduction" methods adopted with mixed success by the City of
Vancouver.

Offenders are given a choice: Either they consent to full, monitored
treatment of the underlying cause of their criminal behaviour or they
receive maximum jail terms.

Mayor Watts hopes to have the basic framework of her crime-reduction
strategy in place by February. And the municipality recently posted a
job for a Crime Reduction Strategy Manager, to be paid around $80,000
a year.

The new manager will have a tough job ahead of him (or her)
implementing the new program in conjunction with justice officials,
police and workers for a variety of government and non-profit agencies.

Let's hope it doesn't simply add another level of bureaucracy -- but
proves as effective as it seems to have in the U.K. in battling
street-level crime.