By Griffy Vigneron (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: March 13, 2013
How safe are you in your own home?
A recent survey by the Abbotsford Police Department has found that 95 per cent of Abbotsford respondents feel safe in their own home. A whopping 88 per cent feel safe in their community as a whole. No other municipality in BC received such high feedback from survey respondents.
So why are the numbers so high?
A few years ago, Abbotsford was considered the murder capital of Canada. Do the survey numbers reflect a changing Abbotsford crime rate, or are people just feeling better about it?
RCMP university criminology research chair at UFV Darryl Plecas says he’s not surprised by the survey’s results. Abbotsford’s police department has been taking a particularly proactive approach at ridding the city of crime.
According to Plecas, the Canadian drop in crime over the last 10 years has been 24 per cent. In comparison, the Abbotsford police have seen a 50 per cent drop. That’s twice the national average.
Instead of a murder capital, Abbotsford is now considered the second safest city in Canada according to Statistics Canada. Our own police department even went to the UN last year to talk about reducing crime.
What’s made the big difference?
“It’s a direct consequence of police initiatives,” explains Plecas. “They focus on that group of people who are responsible for most crime.”
Plecas and his colleague Jennifer Armstrong, both of whom were involved in putting together the survey report, explained the reason we have crime is because we have criminals.
Instead of focusing on community policing, as they have in the past, the Abbotsford police have been cracking down on gangs. Police have been offering criminals, especially gang members, two choices.
“They say, ‘If you want to get out of the business, we’re going to help you do that,’” Plecas says. Criminals are offered help finding education or jobs, or whatever they need to get back on their feet. The only other option the police give career criminals is to, “get your ass out of town, ‘cause we don’t want you here!” Plecas exclaims. If criminals don’t leave, he continues, they’ll be hunted down.
Abbotsford is no longer the Fraser Valley base of several major gangs. There used to be over 130 gangs in BC, Plecas explains, and now there are less than a handful.
“Where are they today? It’s called jail. Clayton Rouche is doing 30 years in a U.S. jail. The Bacon brothers are in jail or dead.” Plecas says.
Another important factor in the reduction of Abbotsford’s crime is the leadership in the police department.
“We have a police chief and two deputies and they kick ass,” Plecas describes, “and that’s not so true in other communities.”
The police chief of Abbotsford is the kind of guy who responded to the survey’s results by saying it was simply not good enough, Plecas explained. Where most people would have been content with a low crime rate, our police chief wants it at zero. On top of that, he’s not the kind of guy to sit around and send other people to do his work for him.
“Lip service is not in the vocabulary of Abbotsford police,” says Plecas. The deputy himself is personally invested in the community. “It is a bona fide interest in caring for the community.”
Plecas notes that Abbotsford could certainly improve on a few things. “One way in which they could improve is they could have better relations with victims,” Plecas notes.
Overall, however, Abbotsford seems to be doing well in its proactive fight against crime, and Plecas hopes that more cities will take on the same methods.
