THE CONTOURS OF CRIME

Canada's crime rate dropped in 1999 for the eighth consecutive year,
Statistics Canada reported yesterday. The number of violent crimes and
crimes against property decreased, as did the overall number of
criminal offences -- the latter by a total of 5 per cent over 1998.
Only drug-related offences -- particularly the possession of cannabis
- -- seem to be on the rise.

Any consideration of crime statistics is fraught with peril, not least
because so much depends on whether crimes that are committed are
actually reported. But there is no reason to suspect significant
changes in Canadian reporting rates over 1998. In fact, minor assaults
- -- which Canadians may well be more likely to take to the police than
than they used to be -- account for a growing proportion of reported
crime.

So there is good reason to believe that our streets and homes are
becoming safer, and that those offences that are committed are less
likely to involve violence or the use of firearms. Only one in every
55,000 Canadians is likely to be the victim of a homicide in the
course of a year, and the chances of being killed in a random attack
are far smaller.

The news is welcome, but it hardly means there are no crime-fighting
issues left to tackle. The reported 16-per-cent increase in arrests
for growing or possessing marijuana should put the issue of Canada's
drug laws back on the political agenda. Police chiefs have called
repeatedly for the decriminalization of cannabis. We echo their
sentiments, increasingly convinced that we are wasting significant
resources in steering occasional dabblers and harmless potheads
through the criminal justice system.

It does not necessarily follow that the money saved should be spent on
the expensive crime-fighting equipment for which the police are fond
of asking. Experts suggest the drop in reported crimes is linked to a
robust economy and a decline in the number of 15- to 24-year-olds, the
age group most likely to commit certain high-profile offences. An
economic slowdown is possible and a demographic echo stands to boost
the number of young adults, so the trend of the 1990s may not hold.
But with hard, visible crime on the wane, requests for ostentatious
hardware and expensive crime-fighting toys should be greeted with the
greatest skepticism.

The growth area in law enforcement is surely white-collar crime, in
its many guises. While Toronto police busy themselves with a
publicity-catching helicopter scheme, victims of con men have turned
to private investigators after being told the force is too busy to
look into their plight. On the national level, there are persistent
reports that foreign law-enforcement officials consider Canada a safe
place to launder money and a safe hideout for international scofflaws.

Finally, the Statscan figures highlight disturbing regional imbalances
in the distribution of crime. For the second consecutive year,
Saskatchewan's crime rate topped those of the nine other provinces --
although not the three territories. Saskatchewan and Manitoba remained
the champions of violent crime among provinces. Among cities, those
with the highest rates were Regina, Victoria, Saskatoon, Vancouver,
Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. The figures would appear to underscore, yet
again, the urgency of maintaining or enhancing programs to address
poverty and addiction.

In all six cities, however, the violent crime rate dropped -- by 13
per cent in the case of Thunder Bay. So did the national rate of youth
crime, despite the widespread perception that the Young Offenders Act
allows it to flourish. If nothing else, the Statscan figures invite
sober, dispassionate reflection on the precise nature of Canada's
crime problems, and what should be done to tackle them.