Squamish's new council laid out its "strategic priorities" this week, and the litany includes many of the issues that were front-and-centre during last November's municipal election campaign. The three "primary" priorities were economic development, improving transit and alternative modes of transportation and improving the District of Squamish's business processes. The latter is an acknowledgement of some of the issues raised by the development community surrounding the efficient processing of applications and projects at municipal hall.
All are worthy of council's and staff's attention, as are the "secondary strategic priorities" for 2012. Those include community communications and engagement, long-range capital planning for needed infrastructure upgrades, dredging of the Mamquam Blind Channel and Brennan Park revitalization. While it may be too limited in size and scope to qualify as a "strategic priority," one project we would like to have seen somewhere on that list is the re-opening of the downtown Community Policing Office (CPO).
A glance at this week's weekly police briefs on Page 6 provides a graphic illustration of the need for a greater police presence in the downtown core. During the past week, four of the five incidents described in the report occurred downtown, with the fifth having taken place nearby in Dentville. Sure, the map doesn't look like that every week, but in almost a year and a half as The Chief's editor, this writer has noticed that a hugely disproportionate number of the criminal incidents in Squamish - assaults, break-and-enters, vehicle break-ins and the like - having occurred in the downtown core.
Re-opening the CPO, which was previously open from 2005 until late 2010, wouldn't prevent those crimes from occurring. However, having the CPO open on Cleveland Avenue gives people in the downtown core a physical place to visit to report a crime, complete a criminal record check or apply for a pardon, for example. What's more, volunteers provided hundreds of hours per month at the CPO, engaging with the public and performing routine tasks, freeing up RCMP officers' time and supporting citizen crime watches and other crime prevention programs.
The office was closed in November 2010 after an RCMP security building review identified security deficiencies with the office. The building, owned by Telus and leased by the District of Squamish during the time it was operating, would cost approximately $22,500 to upgrade. There's also the annual cost of leasing the building from its owner, Telus, and utilities - a figure that DOS officials couldn't provide on short notice this week.
We fully recognize the budgetary constraints the DOS and all governments are facing these days. However, when compared to the value in terms of both crime fighting and an increased sense of security downtown and in the broader community, the numbers are pretty small. While getting the CPO open again may not qualify as a "strategic" initiative requiring hundreds of hours of DOS staff time, it's good bang for the taxpayers' buck and should be a priority.
- David Burke
