I’ve disproven the fear-mongering advice they give to women my age many times. But the first time I slept alone in my new apartment, I was up all night, jumping at the sound of a branch tapping the window.
The anxiety that follows a real break and enter must be devastating. Worse than the breach of privacy, the crime committed destroys what was once believed to be a safe haven from the world outside. That doesn’t mean we should all live in angst.
According to Stats Canada, Canadian police reported about two million criminal code offences in 2011, down six per cent from the previous year. The decline in the crime rate was primarily driven by decreases in the number of property offences. Among the provinces, Alberta and Newfoundland reported the largest declines in crime severity, down 10 per cent and eight per cent respectively.
Most serious crimes take place in the bigger cities. Before I moved here, fearful voices warned me about Edmonton’s murder rates. Nobody considered that most crimes are restricted to but a few places and neighbourhoods, and common sense tells you to stay away from those.
But St. Albert does not compare to Edmonton. The community may fall victim to the occasional break and enter. Ask your local police officer. Or the magazine that calls it the best place in Canada to raise a family. St. Albert residents disagree. It worries me, because fear sways people to accept controversial solutions.
An article in the July 20 edition of the Gazette introduced the new disorder reporter app to the public. The app was designed to allow ordinary citizens to police their community. The article does not state the obvious: it’s also a nice device to keep an eye on that mischievous neighbour of yours. I am not an opponent of neighbourhood watches, not even of the app itself. It could aid in keeping the city clean. What bothers me is the mindset that comes with its creation.
The U.K. set up about four million CCTV cameras nationwide to detect crime. Yet in 2009, an internal report by the Metropolitan Police stated for every 1,000 cameras in London, less than one crime is solved per year.
Germany recently passed a new bill allowing police access to telecom user data, such as names and banking information. Access is permitted not only in the context of “suspected criminal offences,” but also suspected administrative offences – such as speeding tickets. To some, it’s a legal excuse for the state to spy on its people.
Instead of seeking out a quick fix for our fear, we need to look at the cause and existence of crime in our community and learn to paint a complete picture of the crime that threatens us, whether it’s real or only imagined.
Those solutions may require money for education and social systems, to not only work with present offenders but to keep them from becoming offenders in the first place.
That’s not a new concept but better than sleeping with a camera over your head.
Viola Pruss, Gazette reporter, left her native country Germany in 2008 and moved to Canada, not once regretting it.
