Lower Crime? Are we getting better?
Thursday, March 13th, 2008Halifax Regional Municipality police chief Frank Beazley told me in studio that crime stats are lower in Halifax. Year end stats from the Halifax Regional Police show violent crime is down 10 per cent, property crime down 15 per cent, break-and-enters 14 per cent, car theft down 29 per cent, theft over 5k down 30 per cent, theft under 5k down 16 per cent. But do you feel safer?
The lower stats are due to mainly to better policing: targeting “hot zones” with a rapid reaction force.
We still seem to have a lot of gun use in crimes relative to our population and to the rest of the country. We still seem to have too many random acts of violence. We still seem to have more than our share. There are still high-profile unsolved crimes — murderers on the loose, in other words.
“We know who these people are,” declared Beazley with an open-faced, direct, look. His face crowned in white. “But it’s a question of evidence,” an interesting on-air admission.
I assume, by his actions, that the good Chief would like listeners to come forward if they know anything.
Chief Beazley also let us know how disappointed he is with driving infractions. There is a an overall increase of 30 per cent in driving infractions with 46,000 people charged for speeding, stop sign infractions, and inattentive driving with a 17 per cent increase in collisions.
The most startling stat comes with drinking and driving Charges are up 50 per cent!
In a related story, the NSLC reports record sales. On the day of December 22nd 2007 the NSLC sold more alcohol ($5.2-million) than any other day on record. NSLC reaps in money bottle-over-fist for the Province and themselves. December alone saw 5.6 per cent hike in net sales and a 2.5 per cent increase over volume.
NSLC thus recorded the highest level holiday sales in its 78-year history!
A great advertising campaign helped things along.
Remember to spend millions, promote alcohol consumption, and drink responsibly!
Meantime, according to Maclean’s magazine, Halifax is number 10 in the most violent cities list. Ahead of Halifax are Vancouver (10th spot) with many times over the population, and Edmonton (5) and Winnepeg (3). Regina (a hole if ever there was one) is number one — at least they are number one at something.
A question to ask yourself: why is Moncton and Saint John nowhere to be seen on such lists?