CITY FAILS TO GET TO GRIPS WITH RISING DRUG CRIME

How safe is Calgary? It depends on the crime committed -- and police
have yet to wrestle pockets of escalating crime under control.

Drug, counterfeit and credit card crimes are among the main offences
that skyrocketed in Calgary over a five-year period, according to
police statistics.

During that time, drug offences -- trafficking and possession --
increased by 52 per cent.

Seizures of marijuana drugs increased tenfold from $9.3 million in
2000 to more than $100 million in 2004.

Counterfeit crimes jumped 300 per cent.

Fraud rose 25 per cent, from 3,064 offences to 3,820, with identity
theft, credit-card skimming, telemarketing scams and mortgage fraud
proving to be major concerns.

In 2004, the property crime rate of 5,649 offences per 100,000 people
was cited by police as a new 25-year low.

However, even Alberta's top cop cautions against reading too much
into that decline.

Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko attributes the drop, in part, to the
reluctance of victims, who fear a hike in insurance premiums, to
report these crimes.

Reported residential break and enters fell 20 per cent -- while
commercial break and enters rose by 19 per cent.

There were 15 homicides in both 2000 and 2004.

Overall crimes against people -- homicides, robbery, sex crimes,
assault -- stood at 9,385 in 2000, compared with 9,104 in 2004.

Clearance rates by police declined from 73.8 per cent to 68.6 per cent.

Weapons offences -- knives, guns and other tools -- rose to 1999 from
1919 in 2000.