Macleans Ranking Misleading Says PG's Top Cop

Friday, March 06, 2009 03:59 AM

Prince George, B.C.- Stats which convinced Macleans Magazine to rank Prince George as number 4 in the list of most dangerous cities in Canada do not reflect what is happening in the city today says Prince George RCMP Superintendent Brenda Butterworth-Carr. The ranking is based on statistics from 2007, “Certainly my predecessor (Supt. Dahl Chambers) saw there were issues and that’s why we were able to advocate for a crime reduction team”.

That crime reduction team focuses on prolific offenders “We know that when it comes to property crime, we are dealing with just a handful of people” says Butterworth - Carr. The local detachment reorganized its investigative units in order to focus their efforts on that handful of offenders.

The results are in the latest stats, which show significant reductions in 2008 in the six categories Macleans uses as a measurement of a community’s danger level.

These 2008 quarter by quarter results are measured against the same quarter in 2007

Type of Crime	1^st Quarter	2^nd Quarter	3^rd Quarter	4^th Quarter
Aggravated assault	-89%	No change	-67%	-100%
Sexual Assault	-52%	-29%	+6%	-31%
Homicide	No change	No change	No change	+100%
B&E	-48%	-38%	-41%	-34%
Motor Vehicle Theft	-32%	-59%	-63%	-65%
Robbery	-51%	-53%	No change	-67%

Overall, Superintendent Butterworth-Carr says criminal code offences are down 15% compared to 2007, “The stats demonstrate that this targeted approach achieves results.”

Butterworth -Carr isn't so sure about why all but one (Halifax) of the top ten "Dangerous Cities" are west of Ontario "We know drugs are part of organized crime and certainly there is organized crime in Ontario and Quebec, so I can't say it's just about organized crime or gangs."

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Posted on Friday, March 06, 2009 03:59 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Eagleone on March 6 2009 6:28 AM

I think Superintendent Butterworth-Carr is the right person for this job, because she knows the communities most of our problems are imported from, so she should have insights into how best to police the situation from a preventative perspective.

Still IMO its the provincial and federal government that are responsible for these stats being where they are at... and it's those politicians that need to be held to account for their policies that enable this situation to continue. Its not so much a law enforcement situation, but rather a circumstances of poverty in rural communities that have their plight ignored by the senior levels of government because they are problems in the hinterland... and the hinterland has no votes.

No votes means not only are solutions never found, but the problem doesn't even get recognized as a problem. IMO independent housing and access to employment are the biggest factors in the migration that leads to a life of crime and drugs.

Posted by: lmorg on March 6 2009 6:54 AM

Yeah right. SHe's on the hwy 16 killer panel too....no arrests there, eh?

She's just yacking out the party line.
Just like Chambers did.

Truth is PG is a busy crime town. You may take out some of the prolific offenders, but there are always newbies ready to step up and fill their roles.

Posted by: He speaks on March 6 2009 7:45 AM

Well maybe the cops are bought off in the east, so their crimes don't get recorded

Posted by: gus on March 6 2009 7:46 AM

The story is the same in other cities high on the list. A criminologist or local cop says they do not reflect what is happening in the city.

In fact, the story the police told was the same last year, the stats then were for 2006 and they were quoting 2007 stats which were better. Well, they do not look better in some of the 2007 reporting in Macleans.

The stats are from statistics Canada. Macleans combined they ones they wanted to combine. They could have used others, or dropped one or two. That is about the only argument that can be made.

Look at it this way, Port Coquitlam is the murder capital of Canada. We are #42 or something like that. For a western city, we are darn safe when it comes to the probability of being as target of some killer.

The interesting thing is that in major cities, the centre of the city is getting safer and the suburbs is where the crime is increasing.

That is the problem with fixing up the downtown, it makes it safer. We must avoid that at all costs.

Posted by: metalman on March 6 2009 8:11 AM

I would weigh information gleaned from Macleans against a grain of salt, and then use the magazine to line the tray of my bird cage, if I only had a bird. It is all statistics and politics of course, and as always, those involved massage the numbers or the information to project the message they want us to receive. Whether you are dealing with a car salesman, or a politician, they will tell you what you want to hear, or what they want you to hear.
metalman.

Posted by: lostfaith on March 6 2009 9:15 AM

ROTFLMFAO

"�Certainly my predecessor (Supt. Dahl Chambers) saw there were issues and that�s why we were able to advocate for a crime reduction team�.

That crime reduction team focuses on prolific offenders �We know that when it comes to property crime, we are dealing with just a handful of people� says Butterworth - Carr. The local detachment reorganized its investigative units in order to focus their efforts on that handful of offenders."

Is that a fact.

Apparantly that team has turned into a team of watchers

"Police say they watched as the suspect damaged six vehicles, three were entered and the suspect tried to steal two of them."

Posted by: Jim13135 on March 6 2009 9:33 AM

The results are in the latest stats, which show significant reductions in 2008 in the six categories Macleans uses as a measurement of a community�s danger level.

Homicide
No change
No change
No change
+100%

Plus 100 percent in Homicide doesn't show a significant reduction.

Posted by: Shellshadow on March 6 2009 10:08 AM

I think that we probably are high in the crime stats but you have to realise that all the drug addicts, alcoholics and criminals from other towns in the north get sent here with a one way bus pass to be rehabilitated. Unfortunately a lot of them do not leave for whatever reason. The downtown is a perfect place for people with social problems, unfortunately. Now that our Provincial and Federal governments have these stats PG should get funding to help these lost souls. I know a bunch of you will jump down my throat for even suggesting such a thing but so be it. It is the reality! As a city WE all have to face the facts that we have the problem and MUST do something about it other than whining. Ignoring it will not make it go away and if you think that the homelessness will not grow even larger then you are in for a shock. Tough times are ahead of us all and the ranks of the poor will grow.

Posted by: rayban68 on March 6 2009 10:18 AM

who cares about our 2008 stats? How does that compare to the rest of Canada in 2008?

Posted by: Windigo on March 6 2009 12:04 PM

Criminals always have and always will go to where the easy money is. They also appear to scout out incompetence in law enforcement and communities that support their activities, directly or indirectly. Remember everyone, we reap what we sew.

Posted by: lmorg on March 6 2009 1:30 PM

Who cares where the bad guys are coming from...big deal...that fact is - they are here and not leaving anytime soon.

Posted by: Truth on March 7 2009 9:59 AM

Typically, cops respond to only 2/3 of all public complaint calls (9-1-1). And response time are extremely slow. In Vancouver, RT is: 12 minutes for a "major crime." And that is the on-site time. While they claim to serve and protect, cops spend lengthy time accessing data bases before they commence an investigation.

Frankly, if someone reported that you were being tortured, it would be likely that said torture would continue for half an hour, before your paid protective surrogates graced you with their presence.

As for cop stats, they only take complaints that they can "clear." I maintain that policing costs are the biggest bill of goods on our tax fund. Cops get money for next to nothing. If someone asked me to dress up as a parasite, I would put on a cop uniform.

Posted by: furtree on March 7 2009 3:53 PM

Butterworth -Carr isn't so sure about why all but one (Halifax) of the top ten "Dangerous Cities" are west of Ontario

Why? Because probably the dangerous cites are manned and women-ed by the RCMP, king and queen of the taser users and killers of the innocent.

Posted by: furtree on March 7 2009 4:04 PM

Butterworth -Carr, why didn't you use the actual numbers rather those phony percentage stats crap. Maybe not so misleading eh?