I live in a quiet and peaceful suburban Calgary community. Since a relative large number of police actually reside in my neighborhood, I know they are present. Even so, I have to admit, I wouldn’t mind seeing a marked presence in the area on a more regular basis. I see absolutely no downside to members of our local constabulary politely interacting with the community, with the aim of making their presence known in an effort to deter criminal behavior, and at the same time increase public confidence in our police force.
Though I have observed the odd police vehicle roaming my neighborhood during daylight hours, I have never seen one at night. Since I suspect most criminal behavior occurs when it is dark, I think I am on fairly solid ground to say that is the time when we need police the most. Now I admit, I sleep at night, so it is possible they are silently patrolling my neighborhood whilst I am snuggled away in the locked security of my home. Having said this, of all the late night walks I have taken; time spent on the patio sipping beer under the moonlight while watching the traffic roll by on what is perhaps my communities busiest road (if you could even call it busy), I have never observed a marked police presence after daylight hours.
Interestingly, of all the time I have spent downtown, I noticed that the seemingly overwhelming police presence during daylight hours literally fades away once the sun goes down. I spend time downtown, and I have to say, my experience is that there is only a fraction of the police on downtown streets at night, than during the day. I have a hard time believing criminal behavior in Calgary’s downtown is at its highest at this time. After all, Calgary’s downtown during daylight hours is populated by working folk in suits, city workers standing idle on the side of the road and construction workers laboring on any number of Calgary’s downtown projects. Now, when the Cecil Hotel was operating, there was a lot of rather suspicious behavior taking place, but now that it’s gone?
I appreciate the government is telling us crime in the downtown core has decreased. Certainly I have no reason to disbelieve those who say so. But I wonder, how much of the decrease in crime is as a result of the closure of what was perhaps Calgary’s most notorious hotel? According to Mayor Bronconnier, after the closure of the Cecil, crime decreased by a whopping 85%!
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2009/01/22/cgy-cecil-hotel-crime-down.html
Today, Calgary’s police lobby sells us that crime is down in our city centre because of increased police presence.
http://www.calgarysun.com/news/columnists/rick_bell/2009/08/14/10459661-sun.html
To fair, it probably is. But the question is how much and why? Is it really down because the government has decided to increase tax payer dollars in support of law enforcement, or is it because crime has moved elsewhere in response to the closure of a downtown criminal epicenter?
In the word's of columnist Rick Bell: "It's on to Step Two. In the city budget to be debated in November, the police are up for 67 more officers though Hanson worries about getting the numbers. No reductions are in the cards despite the city cutting $38 million out of next year's bottom line".
If crime has moved elsewhere, then it seems some of the virtual leviathan of police officers stationed in Calgary’s downtown can simply be diverted to those areas which have suffered an increase due to the closure of the Cecil.
(Tangentially speaking, has anyone ever wondered about the propriety of the Cecil’s closure? I mean, the City takes away the Hotel's operating license and then purchases the property? Hmmmm??? Alas, I digress…).
Police Chief, Rick Hansen, is a lobbyist. Like so many top government appointments, his job is to secure tax payer funding for his organization. He now looks to secure tax payer funding for yet more police on grounds that we need to stack a uniformed presence in Calgary suburbs. Essentially, he says that more police equates into a reduction of crime. He points to results in Calgary’s downtown core. But is he taking credit where it’s due? Or is he bootstrapping his position to an occurrence that has little to do with the increased police presence?
Assessing the police lobby, I think it is important for citizens to understand a couple of realities. Many years ago, I was a Crown prosecutor, working out of an office in Rocky Mountain Plaza. From my 15th floor vantage point, City Hall was to the South, the old Provincial Courthouse was across the street to the east, and just a couple blocks west was the district 1 police station and the Andrew Davidson building. The epicenter for criminal justice was located within just a few blocks of the Cecil Hotel. I have no trouble saying, the area where my office was located was definitely one the seediest areas I have EVER been in.
From my 15th floor vantage point, I could actually observe a lot of rather suspicious behavior -- both on the sidewalk beside my building, in Olympic Plaza (right across the street from City Hall) and on the streets just one block east of the District 1 police station.
What is my point? Despite the sheer presence of law enforcement officials and police, there is little doubt that crime was exceedingly high in that area. Exceedingly high within a couple city blocks of Calgary’s biggest police station, where the numbers of police either patrolling streets, attending the district office or going to court was monumental. I am sure anybody who worked in that area before the closure of the Cecil would not disagree. From this I surmise that the sheer numbers of police, government and law enforcement apparently had little impact on the criminal element. So, back to the question: is crime really decreasing in Calgary’s downtown because of a higher police presence?
To be fair, I think the answer is probably yes. But the next question is how much? How much of it is attributed to a heightened police presence and how much is attributed to other things? Is Calgary’s top police lobbyist taking credit where it’s not due?
David G. Chow
Calgary Criminal Lawyer
www.calgarydefence.com
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