The occurrence of serious crimes is rising in Yorkton, counter to a trend which has the national crime rate at its lowest level since 1973.
As reported in last week's edition, a spike in violent crime has pushed the city to the number seven spot across Canada in the overall crime severity ranking. Yorkton is in sixth place nationwide for nonviolent crime and 15th for violent crime.
That is a disturbing statistic to say the least.
The concerning part of the situation is twofold.
On the surface there is the question of safety. How safe do we feel in Yorkton in the face of an increased level of serious crimes?
And then there is the follow-up question of how we deal with the situation?
In terms of feeling safe, most of us are likely to still feel Yorkton is a good place to live, and raise a family. Incidents like the senseless murder of gas station attendant Jimmy Wiebe certainly sends a wave of fear and concern through a community, but in time that does fade as we fall back into the generally safe routine that is life in our city.
The issue is, more and more people are being impacted by violence, from robberies, to assaults and yes to murder. It is not a side of Yorkton most want to talk about, and that is perhaps an element of the problem.
The spike in crime seems to have came out of nowhere to most of us, but there has to have been warning signs.
Sadly, often our community is mute to crime.
It stands to reason in a city our size on occasion there will be gang issues in our high schools, cases of rape in its dark corners, drugs of all kinds.
Sadly, RCMP reports rarely cross the desk of this newspaper with mention of such crimes. A piece of equipment stolen weeks ago might be mentioned, but check out Crimestoppers and there are listings relating to a woman being dragged into a minivan and assaulted at knife point, and another incident where a young male was attacked by three others using what is described as a "metal rod."
Perhaps a bit more openness at the time of crimes would heighten resident awareness and how we keep an eye on one another to protect our city.
The normal reaction to a rise in crime is a call for more police. In Yorkton we have already seen the force grow in recent years through the efforts of both the City and the province.
Police is not the way to get at the root of why crime in Yorkton is going in a different direction than the national average. Police by nature react to crime. They deal with its after effects.
What is needed is an understanding of the social issues behind the crime increase. Why in a time of help-wanted signs all over city assuring jobs to most anyone who desires one, are we facing thefts, and assaults and murders? More police will not answer those questions.
But as a community we must ask those hard questions, and be ready to answer them honestly, even when the answers may not be what we want to hear in the small city we may think is somehow isolated from the often stark cruelties of life and the crime which arises from those cruelties.
