Pubdate: Fri, 14 Mar 2008
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Cindy E. Harnett

VICTORIA: A HOTBED OF CRIME?

Maclean's Ranks City Eighth In Canada, But Experts Take It With A Grain Of Salt

B.C.'s provincial capital is being billed as one of Canada's crime 
capitals in a controversial ranking that suggests Victoria is the 
eighth most dangerous city. But police and criminologists say don't 
run for cover just yet.

"We're not the most dangerous city in Canada. We're a safe city but 
we're a city that struggles with a tremendous challenge in terms of 
our resources," said Victoria interim police chief Bill Naughton.

In Maclean's magazine's rankings based on 2006 per capita crime 
rates, Regina is No. 1, followed by Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Prince 
George, Edmonton, New Westminster, Chilliwack, Victoria, Vancouver and Halifax.

Victoria is also ranked with the top 10 per cent of American cities 
for break-and-enter rates.

Rob Gordon, director of Simon Fraser University's school of 
criminology, said it's problematic and manipulative to compare 
Canadian and U.S. crime rates. He does not believe Victoria is one of 
Canada's most dangerous. "It's a ridiculous statement to make," Gordon said.

Benedikt Fischer, a criminologist at the University of Victoria, who 
also studies addiction and mental health, warns people should take 
the statistics with a grain of salt, noting great discrepancies in 
the number of crimes reported in Canadian cities -- for example, a 
sheltered Victorian might be more likely than a street-savvy 
Torontonian to report a minor property crime.

Victoria's seemingly high crime rate -- which includes Esquimalt -- 
is also partly due to the fact the city is the capital region's 
centre for government, business, social services, entertainment and tourism.

When bar patrons spill into the streets and get into brawls, or 
mental health patients are released onto the street from Royal 
Jubilee Hospital, it's Victoria police who respond.

Victoria, Regina and Chilliwack saw break-in rates more than double 
the average in Canada -- a statistic police and criminologists 
attribute to Victoria's high number of drug addicts breaking into 
cars and houses.

"Addiction obviously drives a vast majority of our property crime, 
particularly low-end crime," Naughton said. "On the other end, drugs 
are the driver for our more serious crimes such as homicides."

Victoria police spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton estimates the city is 
hit with about 30 property crimes a day -- 10,000 are investigated a year.

"Everyone's had their car broken into, myself included," Hamilton 
said. The other night about 20 cars in a James Bay parkade were 
emptied of their contents, mostly loose coins.

However, Victoria's crime rate has a much dirtier little secret than 
rampant drug use, Fischer said. Victoria's growing income gap between 
rich and poor is another huge problem.

"Even though Victoria might seem nice and quaint," Fischer said, 
research shows discrepancies in income produce high levels of crime.

"Even though Victoria has a lot of people who are well off and 
established, and not your typical criminal population, there is a 
marginalized and disenfranchised population -- a substantial one 
proportionally -- and that together with a quite sizable drug user 
and mental health problem population ... obviously generates a lot of 
property crime," Fischer said.

On the way to the coffee shop from the cop shop yesterday, Naughton 
said he talked with a handful of lifelong alcoholics and others who 
are mentally ill and addicted.

"That's a great microcosm of what it is we deal with," Naughton said. 
"We get lots and lots of calls for service that are not criminal in nature."

The long-term solution to that will likely be found in the 
implementation of the mayor's task force recommendations to end 
homelessness and deal with mental illness and addiction, Naughton 
said. As well, the city is hiring 19 more officers.

However, Fischer suggests more money spent on drug treatment and 
therapeutic interventions, rather than policing, would reduce crime rates.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom