ORGANIZED CRIME, DRUG TRADE BOOST CRIME RATE

Police are blaming organized crime and the drug trade for an increase
in violent crime last year.

"We attribute this increase to the spring/summer influx of organized
criminals who ascended on our community in an effort to take over the
local drug trade," said RCMP Insp. Larry Stright in his annual report
to city council.

The Mounties reported a seven per cent increase in "person offences"
which is described as violent crimes where the victim either suffers
an injury or has the potential to suffer an injury.

In 2005, police investigated 635 person offences which included 107
incidents involving weapons. Many of these were connected to the
illegal drug trade.

"As you may recall from our previous reports, these subjects were
identified as very violent persons who used intimidation and coercion
to forcibly eliminate locally established drug traffickers," wrote
Insp. Stright in his report. "Our investigators were kept extremely
busy with these groups which, unfortunately, left limited resources
available for other duties."

However, in his fourth-quarter report to council in December, Insp.
Stright stated the organized crime group had left the city.

"That particular group are no longer in Campbell River," he said.
"I'm pleased to report the detachment, in conjunction with a number
of other law enforcement agencies, got on top of that."

In his year-end report, Insp. Stright admitted that investigation of
property crimes -- such as break and enters -- became a "lesser
priority" as police focused on violent crimes.

These other crimes included robberies which increased by 11 per cent
over the previous year. There were 21 robberies in 2003, 27 in 2004
and 30 in 2005.

As for property offences, there was a seven per cent decrease but the
figures are ambiguous. Residential break and enters dropped by 10 per
cent (273-245) but business B&Es were up significantly, 68 per cent (106-178).

Thefts of trucks were up by 44 per cent while car thefts decreased by
16 per cent.

According to Insp. Stright, the numbers pose a serious concern.

"Increases in major offences, that are offset with decreases in less
serious offences, causes us to question the reason for this type of
crime trend," he wrote. "Is this a reflection of some members of the
community who have lost confidence in the police's ability to respond
to their complaints and are no longer reporting minor offences?

"From a service delivery perspective, this is an important issue that
we must not lose sight of."

Drug investigations also increased by seven per cent in 2005. There
were 605 incidents involving drugs of which 212 were related to
cocaine trafficking -- a 44 per cent increase over 2004.

Traffic accidents were also a major concern for police. There were
two fatal accidents last year, compared to none in 2004, and a 15 per
cent in injury accidents (131-152).

Overall, accidents were up by 10 per cent (539-597) compared to a 14
per cent reduction in 2004.

"These are not encouraging figures," said Insp. Stright. "Traffic
enforcement and education will continue to be a top priority for the
coming year."