POLICE CREDIT CRACK CLAMPDOWN FOR CUTTING HAMILTON CRIME RATES

Hamilton Police Chief Brian Mullan is crediting his force's clampdown on
crack cocaine for a drop in nearly every category of crime in Hamilton
through the first half of this year.

Statistics presented to the Hamilton Police Services Board this week show
there were 308 fewer house break-ins - 963, compared 1,271 for the same
period last year - representing a 24 per cent decrease.

Vehicle thefts dropped by nearly 20 per cent, while violent crime was also
down. The two murders were half those the year before, and the 1,689
assaults marked a 15 per cent decrease.

Robberies had the smallest change, with the 296 just three fewer than in 2003.

"You'll hear in the media, very likely, that other communities are seeing
decreases as well. None of them are anywhere near what we're experiencing
in Hamilton," Chief Mullan said.

"For this entire year we've been concentrating, as a strategic direction
for the service, to fight against crack cocaine and we've sustained that
since the beginning of the year."

Councillor Murray Ferguson welcomed the latest figures, noting Chief Mullan
had cited highly addictive crack as a primary crime generator years ago.

"If by chance we got crack out of Hamilton, would we see 90 per cent of
crime gone?" he asked.

Chief Mullan said although eliminating crack would "most definitely" cut
crime, a new drug would inevitably take its place because of the social
conditions that drive drug use.

"Some of these individuals would turn to heroin, some of these individuals
would turn to some other addictive substance," he said.

"It isn't just a law-enforcement issue... It's addiction-treatment issues,
it's sustainable-housing issues, it's employment issues. It's all the
pressures that a typical male or female face on a day-to-day basis."

The latest figures suggest Hamilton continues to buck a trend that saw the
national crime rate rise by six per cent in 2003, according to Statistics
Canada - the biggest jump in more than a decade, attributed to increases in
non-violent crimes like counterfeiting, break-ins, mischief and disturbing
the peace.

The Hamilton region was one of only five Canadian urban centres to have
enjoyed a drop in crime last year - albeit by a razor-thin 0.1 per cent.
Statistics Canada figures placed the Hamilton-Burlington-Grimsby area 18th
among 27 urban centres for crime, with 6,640 reported offences per 100,000
people.

"If by chance we got crack out of Hamilton, would we see 90 per cent of
crime gone?" Murray Ferguson [said].