Prince George, B .C. – The   first of three presentations aimed at increasing drug awareness and reducing property crime in Prince George will take place this evening at the College Heights Secondary School (multipurpose room). The one hour presentation is meant for the general public. 

Prince George has been named the crime capital in Canada for three straight years by MacLean’s magazine, but Prince George Community Policing Co-Ordinator Linda Parker says there are things that can be done to make a major difference in neighbourhoods "One of the things  we  can all do, is get to know our neighbours better and share information.  That way, when a  moving van pulls up to my house, my neighbours will know  if in fact I am  moving, or if something is terribly wrong." 

Parker says there is no neighbourhood in Prince George that is immune to  property crime  "Whether you live in College Heights, the Hart  or  on Cranbrook Hill, we are seeing  break and enters moving out to the rural areas as well."  But she says  if we know our neighburs,  that will go a long way to helping improve  safety  in neighbourhoods. "If you see somethig suspicious it can be checked,  it’s all about knowing your neighbourhood and what seems out of place or out  of the norm."

Community policing recently received money from the province’s Civil forfeiture program, some of those dollars will be used to re-invigorate the Block Watch program.

The information meetings are set for each Wednesday evening at 7 for the balance of April. Tonight the session is at College Heights Secondary,   next week, a similar session will be held at Heather Park School in the Hart.

On the 24^th, the final session in the series will return to College Heights, and the focus will be on increasing drug awareness.