Prince George is on track to do something it has not achieved since 2005 - go an entire year without a murder.
It's a happy turn of events many will take as an optimistic sign for our future, but we should be careful it doesn't cause us to step down the policing activities it took to get us here.
Let's remember that only one year previously, in 2010, Prince George experienced the most murders the city has seen in recent memory.
And those violent crimes helped propel Prince George to the top of the Maclean's magazine's Canada's Most Dangerous City list for the second year in a row.
While Prince George politicians have argued that the city doesn't deserve that dubious designation, the folks at Maclean's have done their homework.
Maclean's has it right: Prince George is a violent, dangerous city by Canadian standards and has been for at least 10 years. The 100 per cent reduction in murders between 2010 and this year is the exception, rather than
the rule.
According to the B.C. Coroner's Service and Prince George RCMP, 32 Prince George residents have been murdered since 1999. Last year had the highest number of murders in that 13-year time frame at seven, but in 2004 there were six people killed and five people killed in 2008 and 2002.
In 2010, there were 168.4 Criminal Code offences per 1,000 people in Prince George - almost exactly double the provincial average of 84 crimes per 1,000 people.
The city's crime rate has been at least 50 per cent higher than the provincial average every year from 2001 to 2010.
From 2001 to 2010, Prince George averaged 2,405.9 violent crimes, 87.8 sexual assaults and 466.4 drug offences per year.
And so long as gangs and drugs are a part of life in Prince George there will be more murders, violence, theft and rape.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
Other cities, including New York City - once famous for its crime-ridden streets - have successfully turned around their crime problems. Since 1990, New York has cut its crime rate over 55 per cent - mostly by increasing enforcement against crime at all levels, from graffiti to murder.
In Prince George, the RCMP Downtown Enforcement Unit is an example of how that approach can have a significant impact
on crime.
Since April, 2010 the five member unit - recently cut to three members - helped reduce crime downtown by 24 per cent.
It's clear that having a strong stick in the form of aggressive police enforcement is effective at reducing crime.
It's imperative for city council to keep that in mind when they gather in February to consider the city's budget for 2012. The Crime Capital of Canada cannot afford less policing. If anything, Prince George could use more
officers.
Also important is the carrot: a helping hand up for people to get out of a life of crime.
More addiction treatment services, mental health services and affordable housing are needed in Prince George.
While the municipal government cannot afford to provide all of those services, it can relentlessly champion the need.
But in the end, while the RCMP, city, provincial and federal governments and social service agencies each have a role to play in reducing crime, it is ultimately the responsibility of all Prince George residents.
We must be willing to bear the costs of policing and social services, we must not turn a blind eye or tolerate criminal behaviour, and we must be prepared to offer a hand up to those in need.
Let's build on the momentum generated this year and work to ensure Prince George does not earn the title of Most Dangerous City for a third year in a row.
-- Prince George Citizen
