CITY'S FINEST CAN FIGHT CRIME WITHOUT HELP FROM ANGELS

The Guardian Angels will be patrolling Calgary streets by August,
even though no formal invitation has been extended. Tough-talking
leader Curtis Sliwa says the city needs his anti-crime group because
he's seen things on Calgary streets -- crackheads smoking in public
- -- that he hasn't even seen in New York.

Sliwa should pack up his halo, get his head out from the clouds, and
leave Calgary alone. The last time we checked, it was still Cowtown,
not New York City or Chicago. It's a relatively safe place to call
home, and is in no need of a local chapter of the anti-crime group
some critics refer to as vigilantes.

Police are doing a good job keeping crime rates down. A number of
successful community watch programs such as Block Parent,
Neighbourhood Watch and Radio Patrol fill in the gaps.

Sliwa, the founder of the New York-based Guardian Angels, has been in
town for the past few days touring the city's rougher spots. He met
with Calgary police Insp. Bob Couture at City Hall on Monday. Mayor
Dave Bronconnier also indicated he was open to meeting with Sliwa,
who wants to expand his Guardian Angels into Canada.

Attempts to get into Toronto earlier this year were rejected. Sliwa
was turned away by both the Toronto mayor and police. Even the
Houston police turned down the group's overtures following a rise in
gang problems with the arrival of refugees from hurricane Katrina.

It's regrettable Calgary didn't send the Guardian Angels the same
message. Calgary is not the Wild West. Nor is it a dangerous, big
American city fraught with crime, despite Sliwa's interpretation of his tour.

He scores zero points for describing the area around City Hall as
"the circle of dope, the Amsterdam of Alberta." Or calling the East
Village "New York City Times Square circa 1989." Such extravagant
rhetoric does little to advance a thoughtful debate on crime and public safety.

Instead, examine the facts. Calgary's crime rate has trended downward
for the past 15 years. Calgary has the lowest number of crimes
reported per police officer of any Alberta municipal police service.
While the population has increased, the officer-per-citizen ratio has
remained constant, now sitting at one police officer for every 642
people in this city of almost one million.

According to a 2004 provincial government cost review, the number of
crimes reported per police officer was 36 per cent lower than in Edmonton.

More recent figures are found on the Calgary Police Service website.
They compare crime statistics from 2003 to 2005. Sex offences are
down, robberies are down, assaults are down. Break-and-enters have
dropped, theft is down, and vehicle theft has declined significantly
- -- from 6,061 incidents in 2003 to 4,960 in 2005.

Homicides are way up -- 13 more in 2005 for a total of 38, compared
with 25 in 2003. That mainly reflects an alarming increase in
gang-related homicides, an area in which the Guardian Angels maintain
their work can eradicate.

The group operates 60 chapters in six countries. Upon completing
three months training, volunteers patrol the streets, dressed in
their trademark red berets. The argument is that these unarmed
patrols deter crime, alert police and provide medical attention when necessary.

The problem is that Calgary gangs don't wander the streets. They do
their drug deals largely by cellphone, and are often in vehicles when
violence breaks out. A number of gang-related homicides have in fact
been drive-by shootings.

The other area of crime that has increased significantly between 2003
and 2005 is drug-related. The most likely explanation is increased
enforcement, which has lead to more charges amid a crackdown on such offences.

Calgary's finest are doing their job keeping the city safe. There's
no need for help from the Guardian Angels.