PUBLIC LEARNS MORE ON CRIME PREVENTION

If members of the community are interested in learning the finer
points of crime prevention then police will bring in the experts to
teach them.

That's the message that over 75 area residents and business owners
were delivered at last week's crime prevention seminar - sponsored by
the Chamber of Commerce and Hope Recreation.

The evening was a kick off point for a number of courses offered by
the RCMP crime prevention officer, Corporal Dean Scott, of the
Chilliwack RCMP. Some of the courses, which Scott says can be custom
built for Hope, include detailed info on how to protect yourself from
fraud, counterfeit credit cards and cash, how to prevent home and
business break-ins through exterior and interior building design,
armed robbery prevention, how to better deal with shoplifting and
problem customers, internal theft, and the benefits of alarms and
video surveillance.

And beyond the courses that can Scott himself can lead, a number of
experts can also be brought in, for example a Bank of Canada
representative on counterfeiting, or an expert on shoplifting from
Sears Canada.

Scott pointed to Crystal Meth addiction as a primary cause of property
thefts, calling the drug "the worst (drug) that has every hit" for its
quick addictive properties where even youths who are "great achievers
can be out of their minds in one year of using."

To combat drug use RCMP have invested $500,000 into Drug Awareness and
Resistance (DARE) programs throughout the Fraser Valley as well as
working to build bonds and leadership skills within the youth through
the RCMP Youth Academy.

To combat crime, police are looking to educate adults as well through
offering the series of courses.

"You tell me what you need and I will build it but I don't want to see
100 people attending, I want to see 300-400" people attending.

Other crime initiatives, both police based and public, also got a
chance to shine over the evening, with presentations from Hope Crime
Prevention Society, Hope CrimeStoppers, Apex alarms, the Hope
Restorative Justice program, Envision Insurance and ICBC.

For those unable to attend the seminar, survey forms are still
available at the Hope RCMP detachment, with which police will gauge
the level of the interest in future courses. Cpl. Dean Scott can be
contacted at the Chilliwack detachment at 604-792-4611.