IT'S TIME TO TACKLE THE CAUSES OF CRIME

Progress Board Report Shows Real Payoff Possible If We Reduce
Addiction, Illness And Poor Parenting

Instead of trying to catch and punish offenders after they break the
law, why not figure out what makes people into criminals and deal
with those causes? That's the practical approach urged by the B.C.
Progress Board in its useful report on reducing crime in the province.

The idea makes obvious sense. It's important to deal with problems in
the justice system that hurt enforcement efforts and the report has
some good suggestions.

But the biggest long-term payoff would come from identifying and
tackling the primary causes of crime.

It sounds, perhaps, like a well-meaning but soft-headed approach. But
the Progress Board, one of the useful creations of the Campbell
government's first year, is dominated by businesspeople. It is
resolutely pragmatic.

The report identifies four primary causes of crime in B.C. Address
them effectively, it says, and property crime, violence and
victimization will all drop significantly.

The most obvious cause is widespread drug and alcohol abuse, which
drive violent and property crimes by users and suppliers. Users fight
to protect their few possessions from others on the streets.

They steal to pay for drugs or another bottle of cheap wine. Both
drugs and alcohol encourage stupid and reckless behaviour. About 80
per cent of federal inmates and 60 per cent of those in provincial
jails are substance abusers, the report notes.

Reduce the most dire forms of addiction and you reduce crime. The
report endorses the four-pillar approach -- enforcement, prevention,
treatment and efforts to reduce the damage done to users. But much
more needs to be done, it says: More money, more programs and a
commitment to extend efforts across the province.

"Most of all," the report says, "there needs to be some action."

It's the same refrain on the second cause of crime identified in the
report. Today's criminals are often yesterday's neglected, abused or
just poorly parented children.

But as a society, we haven't taken the obvious steps to fix the
problems. "Clearly, existing health and social services that address
childhood development issues are not adequate at this time," the
board reports. Children with problems are often not identified; even
if they are, help is unavailable.

People with mental illnesses are also increasingly crowding courts
and jails, the report says.

They end up in prison by default because there is no where else for
them. Hospitalization is discouraged and community care is
inadequate, so people with mental problems end up in the justice
system, which, the report says, "has acquired all the qualities of a
revolving door."

More than 60 per cent of the people in provincial jails have
behavioural or emotional problems that require assistance, according
to the Corrections Branch.

And then there are the people living "impoverished and chaotic
lifestyles," the kind of walking wounded found on Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside. These people would test any system, but efforts to
meet their "colossal unmet needs" would help reduce crime, the report says.

Enforcement is important. But the report is a reminder of its
limitations. For the addict, the mentally ill, the lost souls,
deterrence can't work. There is no calculation in their crimes, no
thought of potential punishment.

We are quick to accept law-and-order solutions.

But we would be smarter, as the Progress Board report shows, to work
much harder at tackling the causes of crime.

That's the real way to make our communities safer.