CRIME STATS SHOW NEED FOR ACTION

Suppose we look at the crime statistics between Whistler and Banff
and start to feel good about ourselves.

Here we are, two mountain towns where skiing and snowboarding are the
favourite winter pastime.

We're both populated with a lot of young service workers here for a
season to make money and have fun.

We both attract thousands of tourists on any given day.

But crime wise, Whistler has more of a problem.

They have more violent crime, property crime and drug crime than Banff.

Should we feel happy about this?

How could we?

Banff still has its share of crime. There are still drugs and
violence on the streets.

While it may be lower than Whistler, violent crime in Banff climbed
14 per cent in 2006 according to the Canadian Centre for Justice.

Even though we're better off than some, we still have a lot of work
to do to keep crime at bay.

The Bar Watch program has been a successful way to curb violence at bars.

With bouncers in communication with police officers, they can quickly
call for help if something gets out of control.

More programs where there is collaboration between police and
citizens is needed to help crime levels.

Building that working relationship with the RCMP is the best way to
give people the desire to watch their own community and report
criminal activity.

If there were thousands of eyes out there watching the streets
instead of just the police, maybe it would deter some of the crime
that's seen out there.

Then maybe we could share this collaborative spirit with other
communities -- like Whistler -- to help them with their problems.

And it won't become a contest to see who has the lower crime rate.