MAYORALTY HOPEFULS TACKLE CRIME RATE

In the first of an ongoing series prior to the Nov. 15 municipal
election, the Chilliwack Progress asked mayoralty candidates what
specific steps they would take to reduce Chilliwack's crime rate. The
candidates were asked to limit their answers to no more than 200
words. If you have a question you would like the candidates to answer,
email it to editor@theprogress.com

Wayne Massey

We have one of the highest crime rates in Canada and it is quite
apparent that a lot of our theft and property crime are directly
related to drug use.

I believe that it will take a multi-agency and multi-level government
approach to tackle crime on the streets. We need a strong judiciary
not only to convict but also to apply onerous penalties including
prison time and burdensome fines to stem the tide of drug trafficking
in our city.

I think that the time has come that we as a community have to look
into the mirror and be honest with ourselves. Are we part of the
problem? I suspect that the visible drug use on our streets by our
homeless population is just the tip of the iceberg. In reality, there
is a lot of recreational drug use going on in the privacy of our homes
in Chilliwack. The business caveat of supply and demand equally
applies equally as well in the illegal drug trade; that is, if there
was no demand they wouldn't have anyone to sell their product to. I
realize that laws related to illegal drug use are beyond the scope of
municipal government; however, I intend to vigorously lobby our
federal and provincial representatives to increase the penalties for
offenders.

Sharon Gaetz

As chair of the Public Safety Advisory Committee, I have ensured that
we have broad community representation including the RCMP, Bylaw
Enforcement, the Fire Department, the Downtown Business Improvement
Association, ICBC, Crown Council and First Nations. We have worked
together to come up with innovative solutions to reduce crime.
Compared to last year the number of break and enters has dropped.

We have targeted prolific offenders (the five percent who do 95 per
cent of the crime), utilized the bait car, increased awareness and
participation in crime-free multi housing, and according to the RCMP,
have taken down one marijuana grow-op a week. We know that grow-ops
are dangerous and are the fuel for gang activity in our city.

But we need to be vigilant - criminals always find new ways of doing
business. We have asked the province to let us be part of the pilot
program that uses Community Policing Officers in Chilliwack as a
supplement to our great RCMP team and to be considered as a city that
could pilot a Community Drug Court. Lastly, longer jail sentences keep
criminals off the street. We are working with crown council to
convince judges of the necessity of dealing severely with criminals.

Norm Smith

We must recognize that the epidemics of crack cocaine and
methamphetamine addiction are the primary cause of property crime. We
must increase treatment opportunities for addicts, and increase
policing focused on this historically unprecedented epidemic. The city
must commit funding for long term "deep cover" undercover operations
to infiltrate and dismantle the distribution networks from the inside
out.

Street prostitution fuels organized crime. Customers who solicit
street prostitutes should have their vehicles seized.

I will work with the RCMP and the Crown Prosecutor to implement a new
program to seize homes from deviants who are caught storing child
pornography. The law allows for the seizure of property used in the
commission of a crime.

Criminals who destroy rental properties by converting them into drug
labs and marijuana growing operations must face additional charges for
vandalism.

They should also be required to pay the entire cost of rebuilding,
even if it takes 20 years to pay for the damage.

The homeless must not be treated as criminals. We must expand the
number of homeless beds. The 11 beds at the Salvation Army are
inadequate with our current population of 80,000.