If you think Kamloops isn’t safe, take a look elsewhere

SATURDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — If you ever wonder whether Kamloops is a truly safe city, pity Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts.

Friday, Watts held a press conference to announce recommendations from her city’s crime task force that more police, foot patrols and surveillance cameras be budgeted to fight back against high murder rates and violent crimes.

Record high homicides prompted the mayor to form the task force last fall.

“I want to ensure the people of Surrey that we will continue to confront and disrupt criminal behaviour in our city,” Watts was quoted as saying at Friday’s press conference. “We will be sending the message, as we always have, that criminals are not welcome here.”

Surrey’s next budget will be boosted to pay for two dozen more police including more foot patrols and bike squads, as well as auxiliary officers and support staff. And, more cameras will be installed.

Last year, Surrey was the scene of 25 homicides.

Meanwhile, here in the Tournament Capital, a recent meeting of the Coordinated Enforcement Task Force discussed foot patrols and the crime rate. The subject of foot patrols was a short discussion — while existing ones will be maintained, there’s no need for more of them.

As for surveillance cameras, they never came up. They’ve been discussed in the past, but Kamloops has never seen the need nor the wisdom of them.

Not that Kamloops is free of crime. Gang activity has been a serious focus for RCMP for several years as police work on preventing gangs from getting more of a foothold here. And, property crime is an ongoing concern.

Plus, we have our share of thefts, stabbings and drug houses.

But, in comparison to Surrey and a lot of other places, Kamloops seems in pretty good shape. Top 10 “most dangerous cities” lists don’t include Kamloops. They do include Prince George, Chilliwack and Kelowna, for example.

In 2013, Kamloops has three homicides, down from six the year before. Our population is about 85,000. Surrey, which had those 25 homicides last year, has a population of about 468,000, which means it has about one homicide per 18,700 people, compared to Kamloops with one per 28,000.

So, things aren’t perfect here at the meeting of the waters, but they could be worse.