Pubdate: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 Source: Times & Transcript (Moncton, CN NK) Page: A1 Copyright: 2009 New Brunswick Publishing Company Contact: http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2660 Author: Jesse Robichaud YOUTH CRIME 'DISTURBING': RCMP Recent Murders Shock N.B. Communities When a murder is committed in a small town in a province the size of New Brunswick, it creates shock waves that ripple far and wide. Nearby neighbours and observers around the province are even more so disturbed when young people are arrested in relation to such violent crimes. That has been the case several times in the past weeks and months, as police pressed murder charges just this week against a 15-year-old female in Demascus, and a 17-year-old male was charged with attempted murder at a residence in Notre-Dame. Police have also charged Daniel Steven Dion, 19, with murder in the death of Layne McDonald in Shediac earlier this year, and a 17-year-old man was charged with aggravated assault causing second degree murder in the death of Nathaniel McFadden in Pointe-du-Chene in January. "It is obviously disturbing when you have 15 and 16 and 17 year olds involved," said RCMP Sgt. Claude Tremblay. Although guns were used in several of those crimes, Tremblay said police have not noticed any specific trends in terms of more guns being found in the hands of young people, but that doesn't necessarily offer much consolation. "Violence is violence, whether you use a baseball bat, a knife or a gun, at the end often the results are the same," he said. According to the most recent numbers compiled by Statistics Canada, violent crimes among Canadian young people aged 12 to 17 climbed by three per cent in 2006. But although violence among young people is growing, Tremblay says there is no evidence that these crimes are being committed in a random fashion. In fact, he said most of the violence is linked to the drug trade. "But the murders seem to be targeted at one (specific) person, it's not like it is someone coming to a random town or village to kill someone," said Tremblay. "As far as the public goes, we want to make sure they know their community was not targeted, one person in that community was targeted only." And the despite laws protecting the identities of youths charged with crimes, Tremblay said the perpetrators of violence rarely remain anonymous no matter their age. "We are not Montreal or Calgary or Vancouver where a person can get lost in the crowd," said Tremblay. "If you cause such a thing as a murder in a community of 1,500 or 2,000, even though the name is not released in court, I am pretty sure the community knows who did what." Tremblay said the number of violent crimes committed by young people doesn't seem to be any higher than average this year. "As far as numbers go we aren't out of line from previous years," said Tremblay, noting that the single murder in New Brunswick last year was an exceptionally low number. Tremblay said another disturbing common thread that has emerged is the relationship between these attacks and the drug trade. "It just tells you very well what it leads to when youth that get involved in criminality with drugs," said Tremblay. "One thing leads to the other, and this is how far it can get." Statistics Canada analyst Andrea Taylor-Butts confirmed that drug related crimes and violent crimes are moving in the same direction across Canada. "Youth drug crimes we saw quite a large increase nationally. Over the last 10-year period, we saw drug crimes have nearly doubled," she said. "We saw similar increase in drug use crimes in New Brunswick." Taylor-Butts said the rate of youth drug crime in New Brunswick is somewhat lower than the national average at 489 offences per 100,000 residents between the ages of 12 and 17, compared to 639 at the national level. She said the number of cocaine related offenses increased by 200 per cent in 2006, compared to 26 per cent at the national level. However, she said cocaine related offences accounted for a relatively small number of drug related offenses. Overall, Taylor-Butts said the number of violent crimes committed by young people has been on the rise across Canada over the past decade. "Over the last decade, violent crimes among youth has increased 12 per cent, and most of this increase is due to the increase in assaults, which is the most prevalent crime among youth committing violent crimes." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom