MORE COPS, JAILS, LAWS MAY NOT BE ANSWER

Our B.C. politicians are up in arms these days about gang
violence-and no wonder.

More than a dozen people have been shot in public, including a
high-profile case in Kelowna, seven are dead and the public fears the
numbers will only escalate.

Police and politicians argue the solutions are simple-build more
prisons, hire more cops and expand the laws dealing with
surveillance.

This isn't anything new. Pick any annual budget meeting of your local
council and there's bound to be an official asking for at least one of
these things.

As for expanding the law surrounding surveillance, especially changes
to the laws in light of the Internet, that's been tried a few times.
And it has failed every time.

But this time things could be different.

With all the gang violence, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal and
Solicitor General John van Dongen are trying to make hay while the sun
shines. And so far, the stakes are looking pretty high.

I feel for the police in this situation. It can't be easy gathering
evidence from a bunch of people with possibly no fixed address, a
pay-per-call cell phone plan and enough money to throw the phone away
the moment there's a whiff of anyone listening in.

It must be infuriating. It does seem to me that the balance of power
is heavily in favour of the criminals.

But I'm wondering if that's just me seeing what everyone wants me to
see.

Police, like any other group, want to keep their jobs. And they have
some compelling arguments for why they should keep them-they fight
crime.

But if they were really fighting crime, why aren't more of them
working to lobby government about spending more resources on prevention?

I'm not talking about more DARE programs in schools. I'm not even
talking about things like legalizing illicit drugs-something the B.C.
Civil Liberties Union seems to consider would be a good idea.

What I'm talking about is lobbying jointly with other social agencies
to bring about real change.

Think about it. There's a good chance the 20-something thugs of today
are the teens and pre-teens of yesterday whose parents abused drugs,
alcohol, beat them, kicked them out of the house or simply weren't
there for them. They could have spent Grade 10 couch-surfing before
landing in care and finally ending up in the youth justice system.

That can't be good for anyone. And I know it's not good for our
society.

On the other hand, this week I met a woman who told me there was
nothing that could stop her from her path to self-destruction, until
she decided she had a choice. At some point, she decided what she
wanted to do with her life. And, equally important, someone was there
to help her.

We can spend millions on fighting crime but maybe there's a different
idea we haven't thought of before.

I don't know what that solution is, but I know for sure if we're
patient, it will come.

And, I trust that whatever happens as a result of lobbying in Ottawa,
it too will be perfect.

Karin Wilson is a journalist and staff minister at the Kelowna Centre
for Spiritual Living.