Chris Clegg

A meeting to address criminal activity in the High Prairie area was held June 5. Some good discussion occurred and ideas were tossed back and forth.

High Prairie is not unique to the crime wave sweeping our nation. Although the RCMP said crime was down in the High Prairie area it covers, no one is believing it. It would be easier to sell Justin Trudeau a Conservative Party of Canada membership that finding people who believe that claim.

What the RCMP heard from an angry public is many people are giving up reporting crime. While it is frustrating for victims of crime to experience long police arrival times, and then watch a justice system kiss the ass of many culprits on the way out the door after their release, it is still a mistake to not report crime.

The RCMP uses the statistics to dictate where officers are needed. If crime statistics are down in High Prairie, Falher or Peace River, it is a tough sell to ask for more officers from the RCMP authorities. The less crime reported, the less officers in the long run are hired to serve the region.

So, please, report crime no matter how frustrating. You are only hurting the community if you do not.

The other item talked about most was the cause of the crime. Drug activity fueled by theft seemed to be the main concern. Solutions ranged from treatment (many thieves are addicts or suffer from mental health disorders of some kind) to longer prison sentences.

The problem is, both are very expensive solutions. In the end, John Q. Taxpayer must foot the bill.

Treatment is expensive. To house and rehabilitate a client is expensive and time-consuming.

In regard to longer sentences, jails are not cheap. Civil liberties and rights are removed while spending some time in the clink but the living is pretty good – at least far better than some street people are experiencing.

No one wants higher taxes but if you put all the thieves in jail we would need several more facilities to house all the crooks. Optimists believe that over time longer sentences will act as a deterrent, but the last thing a drug addict thinks about while committing a theft is a prison sentence. He is just worried stealing and selling something, and getting his next fix. That is the power of drugs! A very vicious circle!

Solutions to the crime problem are not easy. About the best solution is to make life so miserable for the thieves (Citizen on Patrol and Rural Crime Watch programs) that they decide to set up shop in another community. Crooks do go where it is easiest to do business. If they think a set of eyes is around every corner, sometimes that is deterrent enough.

Using High Prairie as an example, we may drive them away and it may good for us, but it might be very bad for our neighbour.

Isn’t it a sad state of affairs when that seems to be the best answer?