While the city ponders what it can do better to prevent crimes from happening, particularly in the downtown core, Prince George RCMP Insp. Chris Riddle delivered some encouraging statistics at this week’s meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Safety, which show the overall property crime rate in the city has dropped 11 per cent from last year.
The year-to-date stats as last Friday (Nov. 15) show an overall 19 per cent reduction in vehicle theft compared to the same time of year in 2023.
Although there was a year-to-year 18 per cent increase in break-and-enters in residences, the number of businesses being burgled has dropped 24 per cent.
There have been 13 per cent fewer mischief reports in 2024, 11 per cent fewer incidents of property theft over $5,000 incidents and virtually no change in the number of thefts under $5,000. Theft from vehicle incidents were down 33 per cent.
The RCMP’s Boost and Bust program, which utilizes front-line officers working with retail store security to prevent shoplifting, resulted in a 10 per cent increase in shoplifting charges, which Riddle says is a positive indicator the program is working.
“It is a positive change,” said Riddle. “I can’t speak specifically to the downtown core, but what I can say is that we have been exploring different for our downtown safety unit. From the membership and from what we’ve seen, there’s not much (criminal) activity in the downtown during the hours that people think there is, because once we’re down there people aren’t doing those crimes.
“A lot of those crimes are crimes of opportunity; as soon as we’re not there the glass breaks. It takes a couple minutes for the alarm company to call us and by the time we get back there, they’re gone. And it’s not a far distance between a lot of the shelters and the places some of the criminals may live at to shelter in place when we’re around. So it is very difficult for us, without doing the surveillance, to find where they are.”
Downtown business owners are calling for the city to invest in surveillance cameras and overnight security patrols and made those concerns heard at the committee’s meeting Tuesday at city hall. Riddle acknowledged how effective video surveillance can be in helping police track down criminals.
Police asked the public for video surveillance footage in the vicinity of a vacant lot across from the Victoria Medical Building in the 1500 block of Victoria Street after a man was shot and killed just before midnight Nov. 6. That was the sixth homicide of the year, compared to the 2023 total of eight.
Eoin Foley, president of the Downtown Prince George, which represents 700 properties in the downtown core, said there needs to be more of a police presence in the overnight hours from 8 p.m.-6 a.m., when downtown streets are usually deserted. The lack of RCMP patrols at night and in the early-morning hours can skew crime stats because officers sometimes don’t receive the reports until they start their day shifts at 8 in the morning.
“We desperately need help in the overnight hours,” said Foley. “During the day there’s lots of eyes on the ground and employees are keeping an eye on things and reporting things as needed. Block watches don’t work if nobody’s around, there are not enough residents downtown for it to be a viable option.
“I’ve been promoting the idea of overnight patrols. I recently got a quote as low as $336,000 for two cars to patrol all night long between downtown and Queensway.”
Coun. Trudy Klassen did the math and using $400,000 as an estimated cost of two overnight private security patrol cars, she told the committee it would cost each downtown property owner less than $50 per month.
Foley said because there is not much of a police presence at night and few business owners there to report property crimes, statistics don’t tell the true tale of how bad the problem is.
“I’ve been chatting with many of my neighbours and friends and on the other side of Queensway too and everyone I talk to said they would be willing to spend money towards (hiring overnight patrols), especially is it’s spread out to 700 properties,” said Foley. “Maybe the city and business owners could go 50-50 on it.”
City council initiated a discussion two years ago to look into the possibility of hiring a private security force that focuses exclusively on conducting downtown crime patrols and what the cost to downtown property owners would be. For that to be approved and added to downtown area property taxes would require 51 percent approval from property owners, assuming they represent at least 50 per cent of the total assessed value of the area.
Committee member John Zurowsky, owner of Pacific Body Jewelry and Piercing on Fourth Avenue, said he knows of one Second Avenue business owner who had to deal with 13 window breakages. He said downtown proprietors who are tied of dealing with fires lit on their properties and vandals destroying things, all of which he says is happening at night .
“We need to turn around and put out a request to the security providers in town to come back with a quotation for roving patrols from the hours of 8 (p.m.) until at least 7 (a.m.), when we actually see some life downtown,” said Zurowsky.
“I imagine we can get crime stats from the RCMP that provide administration with information as to high-crime areas, then that gives us some idea where we want to have the eyeballs and more frequent patrols. The RCMP are actively responding to calls. Mobile security checks, patrol checks can note changes in the environment quickly and give the RCMP a heads-up if there’s more activity in specific areas.
“The advantage to having security patrols is to free up RCMP time and as a deterrence. If they see a car marked security driving by, odds are really good they’re going to move along.”
Andy Beesley, the city’s director of facilities, said private security hired for events and to work in city facilities discourages unlawful behaviour such as vandalism. While security officers are not reactionary and do not physically engage with people caught in criminal activities he said having them around makes the public feel more comfortable and better protected.
