– Editorial
How many cars were stolen last weekend in Revelstoke? How many uninsured, high-end mountain bikes went missing? What about break and enters?
Who knows.
Unlike in many jurisdictions in the U.S., the RCMP don’t maintain a publicly-accessible police blotter at their stations. Unlike in the U.S., reporters, bloggers and citizens don’t have access to consistent statistics on recent criminal activity.
What crimes are and are not disclosed to the public are completely at the discretion of the police.
Therefore, we can have a wave of bike thefts, snowmobile thefts or break and enters and have little idea it’s going on until the thieves have left town with their loot. The public doesn’t know to be on the lookout.
We regularly have serious MVIs on our dangerous strip of the Trans-Canada that go unreported because they happen after hours. This lets provincial political authorities off the hook by hiding the human toll our aging, dangerous highway takes.
Yes, the local RCMP do release information on crimes from time to time, but these releases lack consistency. Our hunch is it’s partially based on staffing levels that week. Or crime events that portray the RCMP in a positive light – like intercepting a marijuana shipment headed to Fort McMurray from Vancouver. Monthly stats do exist but they’re too general to be practical and useful – and aren’t timely.
In addition, a fair chunk of the media releases ourselves and other Revelstoke media outlets receive are based on initial enquiries by the Revelstoke Times Review – which isn’t an ideal situation as we don’t have a sixth crime-detecting sense. This also contributes to inconsistent reporting.
We don’t think crime is a big issue in Revelstoke, but as recent Stats Canada statistics point out, it’s higher than the national average and dogged by things like petty thefts – which aren’t petty to the owner of a $3,500 mountain bike who’d love public assistance in getting it back with the help of a timely description.
Just the facts, presented in a consistent, clear and timely fashion would help empower the public to take a bite out of crime in Revelstoke.
