Skeena Institute » Vandalism

Jacob1

If caught make them work for the place that was vandalized till damage is paid , if under age make parents and children work together . this way people will know what there kids are doing and take responsibility for there actions .

Anonymous

How would you propose to address downtown vandalism?Downtown vandalism is an ongoing issue and one that is difficult to deal with. It is also difficult to identify a solution when we don’t know the root causes of the behavior. Often vandalism is a symptom of other issues such as poverty and drug and alcohol abuse, along with a whole host of other possibilities. As with any problem, possible solutions come with their own pros and cons, whether it becomes affordability of implementation, privacy issues, questions of responsibility, etc. While reacting to the problem with increased policing might seem an obvious solution, we also need to find more positive and preventative approaches to ensure our community is safe for all.Some ways that might help address the problem, and should be looked into, are as follows:1. Create a vandalism task force with the objective of identifying the root causes of vandalism in our community and identify a strategic action plan to deal with those issues. This task force would also need to look into how to deal with the vandalism that is occurring now and what can be done to mitigate the problem.2. Provide more programs for recreation/education/activities in the evening for young people as an alternative to hanging out downtown.3. Education programs in the school and community about the costs of vandalism and what can be done to stop it.4. Continuing on with campaigns such as “Paint Prince Rupert” which builds pride in the community and makes it less likely for vandalism to occur. Building ownership of our community as a whole will help decrease this occurrence.5. Continuing to push for more judges so that those who commit these crimes are given appropriate consequences in a timely manner. There might be a part to play with restorative justice where those that commit these crimes are then involved in the re-beautification of the city, so they have ownership and pride in our community.6. Increased policing, use of auxiliary police, and bike patrols– Bike patrols have helped during the summer months to alleviate the problem however while increased policing measures help, I am not convinced that this is the best way to deal with the problem. Adding officers is costly and won’t do a lot to address the problem, especially with the increased workload and costs related to PRIME* which reduces the capacity of officers to deal with these types of issues in our community. *PRIME-BC is the “Police Records Information Management Environment” for the province of British Columbia. PRIME-BC is designed to streamline the records management system (RMS) and link it to the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system and be accessible to members on the road using their mobile workstations.) The website below has further information.http://www.bc.rcmp.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=57&languageId=1&contentId=373

anne

how about surveillance cameras as they remove almost all doubt. The Port has them installed all over the waterfront. It is our Respoxibility to follow suit. I believe Finex Security at least or some LOCAL contractor has this ability.

Speakuppr

Dang good idea Anne … Followed up with proper and timely identification and prosecution of the criminals of course… not like the SCup fiasco.

Joy Thorkelson

Council must support, both directly and indirectly, recreation, education and training, and decent social programs for children, youth and adults. A sense of self-worth and community engagement creates pride about the city and care about how the city appears. The late night summer recreation program in conjunction with The Hub was a success in keeping some kids engaged in recreation at the Civic Centre last summer, rather than out on the streets looking for excitement. Through lobbying and working with Northern Health, we have achieved a day use alcohol and drug harm reduction program but still need a detox program, a program for youth addicts and a safe house for children and youth who are having difficulties at home.

Last year the Council requested that the RCMP put on a bike patrol and make other changes to their staffing to try to better police vandalism downtown. The RCMP youth relations program which runs when funding and staffing permits also pays dividends.

I have at several Council meetings publicly suggested that downtown businesses might want to become engaged with the youth that hang out downtown and see how they can interest them in positive activities. The mural on the back of the Overwaitea is a big success and it is a source of pride to the people on Fraser Street, adult and youth.