Is the city centre safe?
Energy giant B.P. has recently sent out a memo to many of its employees warning them about the dangers of the core. The memo discusses a recent spike in violent crimes in the city centre and advises workers to avoid the downtown in the early morning or the late evening hours.
The question is, is this warranted? I asked that to people heading in and out of the B.P. building to see if they feel safe around their office building. While I did find a good number of people who thought this memo is ridiculous, the majority believe it was a good move.
This was a good enough story on its own, but when you head out to report sometimes you get lucky and a whole new angle falls in your lap.
I was talking about the warning with one employee who told me that the memo wasn’t only passed around the office, but it was also sent to B.P. offices in the United States.
To my knowledge, no other media outlet had this fact which means we scooped the other stations by simply having someone down there. I was thrilled because he gave me great tape (the audio I use in my reports) telling me who disappointed he was the company would tell business travellers to beware. He made the point that compared to cities like Houston and New York, Calgary’s crime rate is nothing.
This changed the subject of debate for the people I was talking to. It moved from “should we tell people we aren’t safe?” to “Should we be telling people in other countries our city isn’t safe?”
Many who thought the in-office memo was a great idea, were outraged that a business would tell people in other cities that Calgary can be dangerous.
Many say it sheds a bad light on our city and although the company meant the memo with worker safety in mind, it may deter people from coming here.
Whether you agree with B.P.’s tactics or not, the memo has been sent and there is nothing we can do about that.
As for myself, I was born and raised in Toronto. While I won’t give you my opinion on the matter (because as a journalist I shouldn’t have one) I’m sure the stats will show…there is a lot less crime in Cowtown than there is in the “Centre of the Universe.”