TO LOSE TOP RATING, CITY MUST CHANGE ATTITUDES

We're number one with a bullet.

Prince George has topped the charts this year with Macleans Magazine's
annual "Most Dangerous Cities in Canada" rankings.

The rankings, based on Statistics Canada crime numbers from 2009, put
Prince George's crime rate as 90.41 per cent above the national average.

With a nearly 10 percentage point lead over second-place Victoria and
17 percentage point lead over third-place Regina, there is no doubt
we're the worst of the worst.

The Statistics Canada data looked at homicides, sexual assaults,
robberies, auto thefts and break and enters.

Prince George's homicide rate was 121.24 per cent above the national
average (worthy of seventh place). Sexual assaults are 71.83 per cent
above the national average here - a sixth-place finish.

For robberies we were a mere 25.69 per cent above the national average
and 20th place.

Auto thefts were 87.68 per cent above the national average and 14th
place.

In break and enters Prince George ranked the fourth-highest, 66.62 per
cent above the national average.

Prince George is in good company in B.C. Half of the top 20 most
dangerous cities are in the province.

Gangs directly and indirectly contribute to a substantial amount of
crime in the city. But gangs are only a symptom; the disease plaguing
Prince George is drugs.

The production and sale of drugs is the bread and butter of gangs.
Prostitution, money laundering, identity theft, extortion, loan
sharking, smuggling, etc. are all sidelines in comparison.

Fighting for and maintaining control of the drug trade fuels violence
by gangs. Consumption of drugs fuels violence and crime by addicts.

The police can catch the drug producers and sellers and throw them in
jail for awhile, but as long as there are profits to be made others
will take their place.

If we want to make this a safer community, we need to treat the
disease not the symptoms.

Providing resources to get addicts the help they need to break the
cycle of addiction is critical.

We have Baldy Hughes Therapeutic Community just outside the city. It
needs more support to treat more addicts and women need someplace like
it to go.

Preventing new consumers and addicts of drugs is also key. The Prince
George Communities That Care program found Prince George as a
community more accepting of substance use than other communities in
North America.

If children feel it is okay to try drugs, or see their parents or
other role models using drugs, it makes sense that they are more
likely to try it themselves.

Buying any type of drugs, even if it is "just a little weed," aids and
abets organized crime. Drug dealers aren't your buddy, they aren't
harmless or misunderstood. They are opportunistic criminals who
contribute to the murders, rapes, assaults, addictions, thefts and
overdoses that plague this city.

They profit off the sickness plaguing this city.

If we're going to change our status as the most dangerous city in
Canada, this city needs a major attitude adjustment.

We must show proactive, constructive compassion to the addicts and
victims, and have zero tolerance for the criminal scum who peddle
poison in our streets.