COMMUNITIES KEY TO FIGHTING RISING CRIME: RCMP

Curbing Drug and Alcohol Abuse First Step In Crime Prevention

Insp. Doug Reti, head of the RCMP's criminal operations department in
Nunavut, said the rising crime stats could be a result of the territory's
population boom, and an influx of money into some communities. He said
these changes usually lead to increased social problems, such as alcoholism.

"We have a problem in Nunavut with violence, and a lot of that violence is
spurred on by alcohol," Reti said.

He cautioned the bleak statistics might reflect Nunavummiut's increased
access to police, instead of a drastic jump in crime.

Communities have been able to report more crime since police expanded their
services since 1999, opening detachments in Kugluktuk, Grise Fiord, Repulse
Bay, Whale Cove and Chesterfield Inlet.

But statistics aside, Reti said criminal activity is on the rise in
Nunavut, and Nunavummiut will have to get more involved in crime prevention
if they want safer communities.

To do so, Reti said the government of Nunavut needs to provide more
training and resources to community justice committees, who he describes as
key to turning the tide of crime in the territory.

"The communities need to be more engaged," Reti said. "I find we will so
often defer to other people for [dealing with] problems, when the answer
for that problem is in that community. We just have to go and find it."

Reti said the RCMP are negotiating for more funding from the territorial
government to expand their services. In order to receive partial funding
from the federal government for policing, the Nunavut government pays 70
per cent of the RCMP's expenses.

The total budget for RCMP operations in Nunavut reached nearly $31 million
last year, up from $21 million in 2001.

Reti declined to say how much money RCMP want to improve policing in
Nunavut. However, he said the major crimes unit is "tasked right to the
max," and phone operators are struggling to handle all the calls coming in.

Three detachments - Kugluktuk, Pond Inlet and Iqaluit - need more officers
to keep up with their caseloads, he said.

Without added funding, RCMP are responding to rising crime by boosting
their crime prevention activities. By the end of August, Nunavut will have
a new officer who will educate people about the consequences of drug and
alcohol abuse.

Sgt. Brigdit Leger, an RCMP policy analyst based in Iqaluit, said the new
officer will be key to fighting crime because RCMP find around 90 per cent
of violent crimes in Nunavut are directly linked to drug and alcohol abuse.

She said RCMP are also battling drug and alcohol abuse by acting as role
models for children through volunteering, such as the Start Right, Stay
Right hockey program run for children by officers in Iqaluit.

"Younger generations... have to realize there's alternatives to being drunk
and stoned all the time," Leger said. "It's not a one-person
responsibility. It's the community, along with the RCMP."