CRIME IN OUR COMMUNITY

Earlier this year, Chilliwack was informed it was the B&E capital of
the country, based on statistics from 2006. This week, Statistics
Canada released another report on crime in communities across the country.

Crime is in the forefront when it comes to news, so the Chilliwack
Times decided to ask a few people with a background in public safety
issues for their opinions on the situation in our community.

We'd also like to hear your opinion on matters of crime here in
Chilliwack. You can complete the survey in the newspaper (fill in the
survey form and either mail or hand deliver to our office) or, to make
it even easier, you can do the survey at our website,
www.chilliwacktimes.com.

John Martin is a criminologist at the University of the Fraser Valley.
He writes a regular column, Crime Matters, which appears in the Times
on Tuesdays.

1) What are the major crime problems in the area?

Martin: Drugs and the ensuing property crime have the most immediate impact
on neighbourhood and quality of life issues. This is compounded by an
inordinate amount of drug houses and increasing gang activity. The number of
grow-ops and meth users far supersedes what a community of this size should
be experiencing.

2) What is being done or not being done to fix the
problem?

Martin: The police are running from call to call and, as is typically the
case, the courts are releasing people faster than law enforcement can bring
them in. There is a relatively moderate number of prolific and chronic
offenders who should be taken out of circulation but that doesn't appear to
be happening.

3) How might some of these problems be tackled?

Martin: Repeat offenders should be targeted to such a high extent they have
no option but to leave town.

Sharon Gaetz is a city councillor in Chilliwack. Among her many
responsibilities, she has chaired council's public safety advisory
committee. This fall she will be running for the position of mayor. 1)
What are the major crime problems in the area?

Gaetz: One of the troubling issues that Chilliwack wrestles with is property
theft. We know that about 80 per cent of crime in Chilliwack is directly
attributable to drug and alcohol addiction. This results in
break-and-enters, theft of vehicles and copper wire theft. Grow-ops and meth
labs are money makers for organized crime and are dangerous to our
community.

2) What is being done or not being done to fix the
problem?

Gaetz: Our city has worked hard to bring together all community partners to
combat crime. We work together with the RCMP, fire department, ICBC, bylaw
enforcement, First Nations, the Downtown Business Improvement Association,
Crown counsel and other community members. We communicate regularly and
frequently and strategize together. This has resulted in significant drops
in crime. Our stats indicate that there has been a decrease in car theft. We
have the use of bait cars and other tools to help us apprehend car thieves.
We try to target prolific offenders recognizing that the majority of crimes
that are committed in our community are committed by 10 per cent of
criminals.

3) How might some of these problems be tackled?

Gaetz: We are working on a model that will combine crime and safety, health
and social issues. We recognize that this is not "the RCMP's problem." It is
a community concern and we will address the issues of homelessness,
affordable housing, drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness together
with crime and public safety. I believe that the courts need to reflect our
community values. Most people in our community believe that the sentences
that are given are too light. We are tired of the "catch and release"
program. Our Crown counsel is working diligently to educate our committee
and to reflect our community values to the judges.

Supt. Gary Brine has headed up the Upper Fraser Valley Regional RCMP
detachment since last fall. He recently worked in Alberta but has
spent most of his career in B.C.

1) What are the major crime problems in the area?

Brine: Drugs, and drug addiction have the greatest impact on the community.
Drug use fuels organized crime. The money spent by users to buy drugs often
goes to higher level concerns such as the purchasing of weapons. Close to 90
per cent of crime is in some way connected to drugs and alcohol.

Prolific offenders with respect to property crime, including
break-and-enters and auto theft are a constant concern. Often prolific
offenders are committing crime to feed a drug habit which again comes
back to the greater social issue of drug addiction.

2) What is being done or not being done to fix the
problem?

Brine: The main role of police is public safety and crime prevention. Crime
reduction strategies to focus on prolific offenders who commit the highest
number of crimes is a key focus of police. Crime reductions involves the
whole community, and involves all social agencies working together to target
crime and public safety issues in several different ways.

Police work in partnership with other social agencies to help provide
information that is relevant to addressing common social concerns.
Drugs and drug use for example can be addressed in several other ways.
Enforcement is only one way to address the issue. Heath professionals,
and educators play a key role in helping to address these problems.

Police encourage clients who come into contact with the police that
are dealing with addiction issues to seek treatment. Whenever possible
clients are linked directly with other social resources that are there
to help them. The social issues committee is just one example of a
partnered approach to addressing local problems.

Police focus on preventive education with youth, as well as educating
families, and parents in particular how to talk to their kids about
drugs.

3) How might some of these problems be tackled?

Brine: Strategic allocation of policing resources to focus on our most
prolific concerns that have the greatest impact on the community is a
constant focus. Strategic planning is conducted annually to ensure that we
remain focused on the top policing concerns for the community.

Police work to focus on the areas where we can have the greatest
impact.

Impacting calls for service to the police is a social trend that has
been developing over the past decade or more towards calling the
police or other agencies to deal with problems that used to be
resolved within communities and neighbourhoods.

Crime, in particular drug-related activity, is a community problem and
needs a community approach. We remain focused on working together with
other agencies to help address criminal activity in our community. We
all have a role to play in keeping our communities safe.