PUBLIC POLICY THE WAY TO DEAL WITH PROPERTY CRIME

We Understand The Link Between Drug Addiction And Theft, But It's
Simplistic To Invest Too Much In One Strategy

It may be true that property crime has been falling steadily for five years
in Vancouver, but don't take too much comfort from such an unvarnished
statistic.

First, neither the public nor the police can take much credit for the drop;
it's thanks mainly to a demographic trend. Fewer young men per capita
equals less crime -- simple as that.

It's also true that auto theft is rising. Surrey now has the highest per
capita rate of auto theft in North America. Go figure.

And no statistic will comfort someone who has been burgled in Burnaby, or
is carless on Scott Road.

In the city of Vancouver, don't expect much comfort and sympathy from the
municipal cops. If your house has been robbed, they aren't likely to send
anyone around -- unless you're still shooing some crackhead with a
pillowcase full of CDs out the front door.

Police in other Lower Mainland jurisdictions are more likely to visit and
survey the damage.

Not that the comfort of their presence is a particularly constructive use
of their time. Police have to put their resources where they'll yield a
reasonable dividend. Property crime is usually a losing proposition. The
thieves are hard to catch, the crimes hard to prosecute and the sentences
inconsequential.

That's why so many people quietly celebrated, against their better
judgment, the punishment dished out in Surrey last weekend by Chad Trudel,
who caught a burglar with a knife in his in-laws' bedroom. Mr. Trudel was
attacked by the burglar, and struck him with a long metal wrench, leaving
the crook unconcious in serious condition in hospital.

For those who've been robbed of something precious -- heirloom silver, a
grandmother's wedding ring -- and been offered nothing except increased
insurance premiums in return, the dream of retribution is hard to resist.
But it's not likely, nor is it safe or appropriate.

There are better ways to deal with property crime, and they begin with
public policy.

In Vancouver, we well understand the link between drug addiction and theft.
And we're at least discussing the idea that effective treatment of drug
addiction, including the prescription of heroin and easier access to
methadone, is a cost-effective way to reduce property crime.

But it's simplistic to invest too much in that one strategy.

Crime statistics make it clear that we've got other kinds of trouble right
here in Fraser River City, and it's not just the seductive attraction of
the pool hall, and all that can be obtained therein.

We don't spend enough on policing -- just $157 per capita, compared with
$187 in Quebec, where there's much less crime. We nab the guilty parties in
only 18 per cent of reported crimes, compared with 25 per cent in Ontario
and 30 per cent in Alberta.

We spend an inordinate amount of money prosecuting criminals, often to no
good effect.

In response to the news that Surrey is tops in auto theft, a police officer
with the provincial auto theft task force said that just 300 repeat
criminals are responsible for 90 per cent of the car thefts in the Lower
Mainland.

Many repeat offenders spend very little time in jail. Clearly, sentences
for habitual offenders need to be harsher.

We are also not as effective as we need to be in coordinating law
enforcement in the Vancouver area.

Take the various bylaws governing pawnshops, for example. They are erratic
and often weak. The technology used to monitor them is primitive. The city
of Vancouver has recently responded to these problems, and other
municipalities must follow its lead.

Individually, we're frequently careless about protecting our interests,
despite the fact that theft has touched most of us. Many homes and cars are
far too easy to break into. Yet insurance companies don't effectively
educate and assist their customers.

Politicians talk a good line on crime at election time, but the solutions
proposed are too often simplistic. Few show the thoughtful, vigorous
leadership that we need to address the problem.

A true solution would involve courts that dole out more appropriate
penalties, police that are equipped and willing to take property crime
seriously, and civic and provincial politicians who think more deeply and
craft better policy.

Don't hold your breath. And, in the meantime, be careful.