Crime is in the forefront when it comes to news, so the Chilliwack Times decided to ask a few people with a background in public safety issues for their opinions on the situation in our community.

We'd also like to hear your opinion on matters of crime here in Chilliwack. You can complete the survey in the newspaper ( fill in the survey form and either mail or hand deliver to our office ) or, to make it even easier, you can do the survey at our website, www.chilliwacktimes.com.

John Martin is a criminologist at the University of the Fraser Valley. He writes a regular column, Crime Matters, which appears in the Times on Tuesdays.

1 ) What are the major crime problems in the area?

Martin: Drugs and the ensuing property crime have the most immediate impact on neighbourhood and quality of life issues. This is compounded by an inordinate amount of drug houses and increasing gang activity. The number of grow-ops and meth users far supersedes what a community of this size should be experiencing.

2 ) What is being done or not being done to fix the problem?

Martin: The police are running from call to call and, as is typically the case, the courts are releasing people faster than law enforcement can bring them in. There is a relatively moderate number of prolific and chronic offenders who should be taken out of circulation but that doesn't appear to be happening.

3 ) How might some of these problems be tackled?

Martin: Repeat offenders should be targeted to such a high extent they have no option but to leave town.

Sharon Gaetz is a city councillor in Chilliwack. Among her many responsibilities, she has chaired council's public safety advisory committee. This fall she will be running for the position of mayor. 1 ) What are the major crime problems in the area?

Gaetz: One of the troubling issues that Chilliwack wrestles with is property theft. We know that about 80 per cent of crime in Chilliwack is directly attributable to drug and alcohol addiction. This results in break-and-enters, theft of vehicles and copper wire theft. Grow-ops and meth labs are money makers for organized crime and are dangerous to our community.

2 ) What is being done or not being done to fix the problem?

Gaetz: Our city has worked hard to bring together all community partners to combat crime. We work together with the RCMP, fire department, ICBC, bylaw enforcement, First Nations, the Downtown Business Improvement Association, Crown counsel and other community members. We communicate regularly and frequently and strategize together. This has resulted in significant drops in crime. Our stats indicate that there has been a decrease in car theft. We have the use of bait cars and other tools to help us apprehend car thieves. We try to target prolific offenders recognizing that the majority of crimes that are committed in our community are committed by 10 per cent of criminals.

3 ) How might some of these problems be tackled?

Gaetz: We are working on a model that will combine crime and safety, health and social issues. We recognize that this is not "the RCMP's problem." It is a community concern and we will address the issues of homelessness, affordable housing, drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness together with crime and public safety. I believe that the courts need to reflect our community values. Most people in our community believe that the sentences that are given are too light. We are tired of the "catch and release" program. Our Crown counsel is working diligently to educate our committee and to reflect our community values to the judges.

Supt. Gary Brine has headed up the Upper Fraser Valley Regional RCMP detachment since last fall. He recently worked in Alberta but has spent most of his career in B.C.

1 ) What are the major crime problems in the area?

Brine: Drugs, and drug addiction have the greatest impact on the community. Drug use fuels organized crime. The money spent by users to buy drugs often goes to higher level concerns such as the purchasing of weapons. Close to 90 per cent of crime is in some way connected to drugs and alcohol.

Prolific offenders with respect to property crime, including break-and-enters and auto theft are a constant concern. Often prolific offenders are committing crime to feed a drug habit which again comes back to the greater social issue of drug addiction.

2 ) What is being done or not being done to fix the problem?

Brine: The main role of police is public safety and crime prevention. Crime reduction strategies to focus on prolific offenders who commit the highest number of crimes is a key focus of police. Crime reductions involves the whole community, and involves all social agencies working together to target crime and public safety issues in several different ways.

Police work in partnership with other social agencies to help provide information that is relevant to addressing common social concerns. Drugs and drug use for example can be addressed in several other ways. Enforcement is only one way to address the issue. Heath professionals, and educators play a key role in helping to address these problems.

Police encourage clients who come into contact with the police that are dealing with addiction issues to seek treatment. Whenever possible clients are linked directly with other social resources that are there to help them. The social issues committee is just one example of a partnered approach to addressing local problems.

Police focus on preventive education with youth, as well as educating families, and parents in particular how to talk to their kids about drugs.

3 ) How might some of these problems be tackled?

Brine: Strategic allocation of policing resources to focus on our most prolific concerns that have the greatest impact on the community is a constant focus. Strategic planning is conducted annually to ensure that we remain focused on the top policing concerns for the community.

Police work to focus on the areas where we can have the greatest impact.

Impacting calls for service to the police is a social trend that has been developing over the past decade or more towards calling the police or other agencies to deal with problems that used to be resolved within communities and neighbourhoods.