Crime Prevention Initiatives Well Worth the Money

(Aired on May 14, 2010)

Earlier this week, I talked about the fact that we can solve lots of things with money. We can fix health care, we can fix doctor shortages, we can fix education woes. All it takes is the bucks.

Same with crime. We can solve lots of crimes if we want to spend the money. Vancouver Police and Kamloops RCMP both came out with releases this week indicating the prolific offender targeting programs have had a major impact in reducing crime. That's exceedingly good news, especially at the coast where crime activity is in the news almost every day. Here, police target prolific offenders, they keep a close watch on them, and when they screw up, away they go back to jail.

In Vancouver, their focus is a bit different. Although they really target the offenders in a variety of ways, they also make a major push towards finding them help. Working with a variety of groups, police are working to divert the prolific offenders and hopefully give them a chance for the future by redirecting their lives. So far it seems to be working. Again, all the result of money. Increasing surveillance cameras, more human eyes in high crime areas, more anti-crime expenditures by business, all seem to be helping in the fight.

It's not a battle that's easily won. Police chiefs have to determine how much resources they can put into a program like this. Businesses and city governments have to decide how much they want to spend to get the job done. I do believe the effort is worth it. It certainly gives me a better sense of security when someone tells me property crime is down substantially, that my chance of getting mugged on the street has been reduced, and that the small percentage who commit most of the crimes are being targeted, and kept on the run.

It's taken a lot of money to get this far, it will take more to take the bar to the next level, but in my view, every penny is worth it. Protecting our safety is one of the highest priorities we have, and the money spent makes the results very worthwhile.