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FRIDAYJULY 25
TRIAL: Forensics focus in Legebokoff case
www.pgfreepress.com | newsline: 250.564.0005
Crime down
Reading Right
in Prince George in 2013 Allan Wishart allanw@pgfreepress.com
Brown new man
According to Statistics Canada, Prince George is becoming a safer place to live. The latest StatCan Crime Severity Index (CSI) shows the city had a score of 137 in 2013, compared to 151 in 2012. The CSI is based on the volume of crime reported to the police in a community, as well as the seriousness of the crime, as determined by the sentences handed down in court. At a press conference Wednesday at the Prince George RCMP building, Mayor Shari Green said the numbers look good, at least early on. “The report just came out today,” she said, “and we’re not finished our number crunching, but for us, it’s a decline, which is good news for the community.” Acting detachment commander Brad Anderson said the decline showed new initiatives by the RCMP were working. “We’re being more aggressive in going after the habitual criminals, the small percentage who cause most of the problems.” He said the RCMP had targeted residences in the city which were known to police as key sites. “In many cases,” he said, “there was no ‘ownership’ by the owners, many of whom don’t live in the city. We got in touch with them and said, ‘Here’s what’s going on in this house. What are you going to do about it?’ “We’ve had a great deal of success with this program, including closed down a number of derelict buildings.” Anderson said there was also a concern with a noted influx of people into the downtown core. “We have increased the work of the Downtown Enforcement Unit, which actually incorporates the entire detachment. We’ve trained more than 20 additional officers on doing bike patrols, which we find work well in the downtown.” He also noted the support the RCMP have gotten from its partners in fighting crime. “The City has done a great job in supporting our work, and we’ve also had great support from Northern Health, mental health and detox in getting people the help they may need.” Green said the public needs to know they have a role to play in fighting crime. “People feel they have a voice when they see the police taking these steps on calls they have made. They need to report things, when they feel the hair on the back of their neck stand up because something isn’t right.”
Phone 250-563-6444 Toll Free 1-800-219-6327 910 Third Avenue, Prince George, BC Email polarrefrig@telus.net polarrefrig.ca
for local RCMP The City of Prince George is pleased to announce Insp. Warren Brown as the successful candidate and new Officer in Charge of the Prince George RCMP. Brown, currently the Officer in Charge of the Williams Lake RCMP, will be setting his affairs in order and joining the Prince George RCMP in the coming weeks. “Having worked as a Detachment Commander in New Hazelton and Williams Lake, I am familiar with and have faced similar challenges to those which Prince George faces,” said Brown in a press release. “I look forward to engaging with the many partners and stakeholders in the City and continuing the great work of Supt. Eric Stubbs in crime reduction - making Prince George a safer community for everyone.” Brown takes over from Stubbs, who left Prince George for a new posting in Ottawa earlier this year.
INSIDE TODAY: Hart News..................................P6 Voices.........................................P8 Datebook..................................P10 Community..............................P11 Teresa MALLAM/Free Press Claire Tkachuk, 2, is a happy reader in the children’s area of the Prince George Public Library. The tot was accompanied by her grandmother Selene.
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