GO WEST, YOUNG CRIMINAL

Crime is down across the country, the car radio assured me as I rolled off
the ferry after the latest trip to the Lower Mainland.

According to Statistics Canada, in 2005 the rates of crime reported to
police in 27 urban areas across the country were all either stable or
down, except for slight increases in London and Ottawa.

"Again, the highest crime rates were in Western cities," StatsCan
cheerfully notes.

On a provincial basis, B.C.'s crime rate is the second worst in
Canada, behind Saskatchewan and ahead of Manitoba. The lowest crime
rates were in Ontario and Quebec.

Highest crime-rate cities?

After those perennial hotspots, Saskatoon and Regina, the next highest
were Abbotsford, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Edmonton and -- gasp --
Victoria. Despite Quebec's rich tradition of murderous bikers and
corrupt politicians, Canada's purest communities in this survey were
Saguenay, Trois-Rivieres and Sherbrooke.

It's been suggested that the troublesome youth of Quebec, and other
provinces, are drawn disproportionately to laid-back B.C.

Nationally, homicides are up a tetch but violent crime is generally
down. This continues a long statistical trend, including a 25 per cent
drop in sexual assaults over the last 10 years.

Property crime is also down. The survey says a seven per cent drop in
motor vehicle theft for 2005 is partly a result of better anti-theft
systems on cars.

This is all very reassuring, but do you feel safer today than you did
10 years ago? I don't.

Most people in cities have added alarm systems in the vehicle, home
and office during that time, and they don't seem to add much to the
comfort level.

The big difference for most of us is the visible number of scary guys
on the street. It's not just the mumbling mental patients exercising
their Trudeau-granted right to refuse help, or the grisly binners and
"recyclers" who simply choose not to follow anyone's rules. When they
steal at least they have desperation as an excuse.

It's the hardcore system manipulators who will exploit whatever
weakness a soft society presents to them. Social disorder gives them
more room to work.

My thanks to the British magazine The Economist, which gave a global
black eye to pretty Vancouver, warning refined Europeans they might be
upset by the panhandlers and drug dealers who croak their grim pitches
in the faces of theatre-goers.

In the heat of a supernatural B.C. summer, with help-wanted signs
offering pay the same day for honest work, it's a bit much to pretend
all these poor "homeless" are all helpless victims of right-wing
welfare cuts. If you believe that, you'll soon be a victim,
voluntarily or otherwise.

People should heed one bit of advice from Vancouver Police Chief Jamie
Graham. Don't give to panhandlers. Let the professional agencies
handle genuine need.

Driving down Kingsway in Vancouver last week, I came up to one of the
many guys who have ditched the squeegie and just beg on street
dividers at intersections. From the car ahead of me in the left-turn
lane, a boy of about 10 jumped out and dashed ahead to deliver a
handful of change to the able-bodied ruffian whose sign insisted he
needed it. Cars were moving by the time he got back in. Way to go, mum
and dad. Send your kid out into traffic to help pay for a needy
person's crystal meth. Maybe he won't have to break into your car tonight.

It's important to note that property and other crime statistics are
based on reports to police. Personally, I've reported the two vehicle
thefts, one vehicle break-in, two garage thefts and one house break-in
I've experienced in the last decade or so. Other people may not bother.

New police resources

With the plunging crime rate, you'd expect policing costs would be
dropping. You'd be wrong. A new report from the Law Commission of
Canada looks at the dramatic rise in private security, to help police
control public spaces such as malls and public events like fireworks
shows.

The report calls for an improved training and licensing system for
private security, so the state's powers of arrest can be delegated
safely.

Policing is evolving in a similar fashion to nursing, where licensed
practical nurses have moved in to front-line positions to support
registered nurses, who take on more managerial responsibility.