Public safety is an ongoing conversation these days. Especially with several high-profile random acts of violence across Canada in recent months.
People often move to smaller cities and towns to feel safer than they do in the big city.
But that begs the question: Are people actually safer outside the city, and is there cause for concern?
Well, the latest numbers from Port Alberni RCMP are in. And the good news is, the city saw a decrease in overall crime in the last three months of 2022.
Sergeant Mike Thompson presented the RCMP’s most recent report to the City Council. It covers the months of October-December.
The report shows that overall, criminal offences were down by eight percent for the period, compared to the same time in 2021. The number of property crime offences was down even more by 21 percent.
It would seem that crime prevention is the reason for these decreases. Thompson said the RCMP’s crime reduction unit has been working on targeted enforcement, including curfew checks.
“We’ve really tried to focus on making sure that the people who are supposed to be in their homes are in their homes when they’re supposed to be there,” said Thompson.
Keeping tabs on known offenders is a great start. You know what they say about an ounce of prevention.
Perhaps more concerning is a reported increase in violent crime. According to the RCMP breakdown presented to the council, violent crimes include assaults, harassment, robbery, sex offences, and uttering threats.
Despite the overall decrease in crime, violent offences were up by 32 percent for the quarter compared to the July-September period.
But that number can be a little misleading.
Thompson says the reason for most of this increase is a string of armed robberies that took place over a five-day period in November and December. The RCMP believes that all of the robberies were committed by one person. Angus Brown, 25, is currently being held in police custody and faces 13 charges related to the robberies.
In December, a stabbing on Fourth Avenue left one person dead and several others injured. Thompson said there were also a couple of home invasions at the end of the year that added to the number of violent offences.
“That really pushes the numbers up,” he explained to the council.
The numbers are worth looking at more closely. In 2021, violent crimes made up .05 percent of total calls received by the RCMP. For all of 2022, the violent crime rate was .054 percent.
That’s not a huge increase. Especially considering the detachment saw a nearly 10 percent increase in total calls over the previous year (10,433 calls jumped to 10,839).
So rather than ringing alarm bells, we’d like to look at root causes.
Thompson pointed out that many in the community struggle with mental health or other concerns. He said the RCMP have brought in mental health training, and are trying to refer people to health services instead of the criminal justice system.
“We’re trying to deal with some of the files that we have in a different way,” he said. “Bringing on additional resources and specialized techniques to be able to address that is something that we’ve focused on very seriously in the last two to three months.”
The RCMP’s update included their priorities for 2022-23. Areas of priority include youth engagement, such as through school and sports events. They also hope to connect more with First Nations communities.
Another focus will be on the reduction and prevention of non-violent crimes, which their data suggest has been an effective approach.
Another presentation to the council highlighted the need to support youth who are at risk.
Constable Beth O’Connor of the RCMP, Deb Hamilton of Alberni Drug & Alcohol Prevention Service (ADAPS), and Dave Maher, principal of Eighth Avenue Learning Centre, are taking the initiative to implement change.
O’Connor explained that between 2020 and 2022 there have been a number of incidents of youth violence. These involved kids affiliating themselves with a group or “gang” name. They have seen an increase in violence among youth aged 12-17.
Officials recently cancelled Nights Alive, a long-running city program that offered free recreational activities for youth.
“This was due to reoccurring safety concerns, not only for the kids who were attending but for the staff and the volunteers,” said O’Connor. “Currently Port Alberni is experiencing a spike in calls for service for kids ages 12 to 15 years old.”
Certainly, we need more healthy activities to engage youth, not fewer.
She said the RCMP has been meeting with Nuu-chah-nulth nations and community partners to prepare a game plan to change this.
“We’ve combined our collective knowledge and experience from the front line and believe that there is an urgent need to invest in a comprehensive youth strategy for prevention,” O’Connor said.
They’ve put together a plan to take place over the next five years to break what’s becoming a flow toward organized crime.
For this to happen, they need investment.
They asked the City to contribute half a million dollars in this year’s budget to go toward social service agencies running programs to guide kids in a different direction.
So far, City Council has asked for further specifics on the strategy. Decisions about the city’s budget are underway.
