Pubdate: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 Source: Peterborough Examiner, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2007 Osprey Media Group Inc. Contact: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2616 CRIME RATE UP: WHAT IT ALL MEANS Chief Outlines Real Problems Behind the Higher Numbers The complex nature of reducing crime was highlighted by Police Chief Terry McLaren when he spoke to a local service club Monday. The city's crime rate rose 12.2 per cent last year, McLaren said. That's the kind of number that gets people thinking the criminals are taking over. But McLaren said he's not overly concerned. A lot of the increase reflected the 129 drug charges laid during a three-month crackdown on street dealers in the downtown area. It wasn't so much a spike in crime as a reflection of police deciding to target a specific segment of it. Popular sentiment would be that the crime rate increase proves more officers are needed. But McLaren has repeatedly said he's happy with the number he has after several years of expansion. There is a segment of the population that believes an increase in drug crime and break-ins proves the downtown isn't safe. But McLaren told the Rotary Club on Monday that's not true, that crime downtown rose only 1.2 per cent last year. "Downtown is very, very safe," the chief said. However, there are problem areas. Drug use tops the list. Marijuana remains the most common drug, but cocaine arrests doubled over last year and police warn that the highly addictive crystal methamphetamine is on its way. Drug users looking for money or anything they can sell are mainly responsible for 43-per-cent more break-ins and 69 per-cent-more thefts from vehicles, McLaren said. Yet those are symptoms of bigger, more troubling concerns. Drugs are easier to get, McLaren said, because suppliers chased out of Toronto by a provincially and federally financed crackdown on gang violence are looking for other markets. As a result, more guns are also appearing. That outflow is starting to be felt in Peterborough. It is not a major factor yet, but McLaren is right: now is the time to expand anti-gang efforts beyond Toronto, before a big problem develops. School education programs are also important. Arresting a lot of drug dealers and users doesn't make people feel their community is safer; reducing the number of users will. But not everything police can do to make communities safer happens at the street level. Government policies also make a difference. The province's insistence that local police cover the cost of court security is a good example. It costs the city force more than $1 million a year to man two court buildings and transfer prisoners - a sizeable chunk of its $14 million budget. Freeing up that money would provide flexibility to do a lot more crime prevention. Lobbying to shift those costs back to the province, and to expand anti-gang programs outside the Toronto area before the problem gets out of hand, isn't just a job for police. Municipal politicians, school boards, business groups, social agencies - anyone with an interest in safe communities - should be joining in. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine