Pubdate: Sun, 12 Jun 2005
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005 Calgary Herald
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Gwendolyn Richards

COUNCIL TO LOOK AT OTHER CITIES FOR SOLUTIONS TO CRIME, SOCIAL ISSUES

City aldermen want to look to other cities for creative solutions in 
combatting the escalating problems of crime, drugs, homelessness and 
prostitution throughout Calgary.

Ald. Craig Burrows and Ald. Druh Farrell will put forward a joint motion at 
Monday's council meeting requesting administration make a report looking at 
what other municipalities have done to deal with these problems and others, 
including loitering, fighting, panhandling and littering.

Burrows said the plan is to look to cities such as Vancouver that have 
adopted aggressive approaches to similar problems and examine the 
possibility of having a multi-tiered approach in Calgary that would utilize 
city police, peace officers and bylaw officers.

"You don't need to send police officers to every little problem that 
requires law enforcement," Burrows explained Saturday.

Implementing bylaws and fines to combat the problems may be one option, he 
said, adding that efforts to crack down on fighting and drugs are often 
stymied by the federal young offenders legislation.

"People doing single crack deals aren't being charged. Kids fighting aren't 
being charged," he said.

"Frankly, if you're under 18 years old, you can pretty much do anything; 
you can get away with anything but murder."

Evidence that the problem is escalating is all around us, he added, 
explaining that a fight 25 years ago would end after a few hits, but today 
the city sees more violence involving beer bottles and knives.

"All of a sudden, a fight turns into a riot," he said.

Although the original motion revolved around Calgary's downtown core, the 
amended motion will cover the entire city and will encapsulate the East 
Village Action plan, said Farrell.

That plan is designed to look at best practices in other cities on issues 
of prostitution, drug addiction and homelessness.

"You can't just look at crime and enforcement and social issues 
separately," she said.

Calgary Downtown Association executive director Richard White said the 
association fully supports the motion and has been working with the city 
and police to look at various pieces of legislation that would help the 
situation.

He said the question has become how can the city get bylaw officers to deal 
with bylaw infractions and police to deal with Criminal Code infractions.

"A good percentage of police time is taken up with non-criminal activity," 
he said.

He added that they would like to see the bylaw program stepped up as a more 
cost-effective measure to combat problems in the inner city.

If the motion passes, administration will make a report in September about 
their findings and bring forward recommendations to council.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom