The Shining Valley has seen its fair share of criminal activity, including drive-by shootings, numerous grow-op busts, assaults, stabbings, robberies and a seemingly endless catalogue of petty thievery. But all that in-your-face crime news can be deceptive. Recently released statistics from the Ministry of Public Safety tell a different story.
Between 2006 and 2010, break-and-enter offences in Squamish dropped from a high of 285 to 104. In 2006, a whopping 129 motor vehicle thefts were recorded in town. Four years later, a comparatively meagre 29 vehicles were stolen.
Property theft decreased by more than half, from a high of 914 in 2003 to 440 in 2010. Violent crime decreased from a high of 522 at the beginning of the decade to a low of 373 nine years later.
Nevertheless, let's not rush into the streets right away to engage in an exuberant display of congratulatory high-fives. If we isolate robberies from this crime grab bag, the picture is less flattering. We went from a low of two hold-ups in 2001 to a high of 10 nine years later. Drug offences hit a low of 95 in 2003 but nearly doubled to 180 people getting busted for drug-related infractions during the Olympic year. Drug offences include possession, trafficking, production and distribution of cannabis, cocaine, heroin and other related offences. These days an emerging problem is the illegal sale of the prescription drug OxyContin, known on the street as Roxy, Oxy, Hillbilly Heroin and Blue Bombers.
The overall declining crime rate is not unique to Squamish. Statistics Canada reports that reported crime across the country is at its lowest level in nearly 40 years. Alberta and British Columbia saw the largest declines in 2010, with the crime rate falling by six per cent in both provinces.
According to Larry Murray, the chair of Sea to Sky Crime Stoppers, there are a number of reasons for this trend. He believes that communities are less complacent and more alert and responsive to crime. Many residents have become partners in crime reduction rather than relying solely on police intervention. Locally, the downtown Community Police Station, during the time it was open, has paid dividends, as have preventative programs such as Crime Stoppers and Neighbourhood Watch.
Provincial government crime-fighting initiatives like Business Watch, Bar Watch, the highly successful bait car program, civil forfeiture legislation, and the widespread use of electronic and information technology by police have also proven effective.
Another reason for the reduction in crime in many B.C. communities is the Prolific Offender Program, which is used to improve coordination between law enforcement, the courts and probation officers to identify, monitor and share information on the small number of offenders who commit a large percentage of crimes.
When everything is said and done, amid the steady flow of reports from across the province about police bungling, malfeasance and gross dereliction of duty, the other message we should acknowledge is that the vast majority of those officially sworn to serve and protect our communities have risen to the occasion.
