SAANICHNEWS COMMUNITY
ENTERTAINMENT
Life on the islands
FolkWest adds flair
Joan Morris of the Songhees Nation talks about the safe haven of Chatham Island. Page A3
Second year of folk festival will see international artists perform at Royal Athletic Park. Page A14
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Offer Expires August 22nd, 2012
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Ultimate effort Nathan Lam, 26, dives for the Frisbee during ultimate practice at the fields of Lansdowne middle school last Thursday. This month, for the first time in 15 years, Victoria is hosting the Canadian ultimate championships. The tournament is expected to draw 72 teams with 1,500 athletes from as far away as Newfoundland. See the story on page A17. Edward Hill/News staff
Saanich among safest places in Canada Community policing, aging population helps, says mayor Kyle Slavin News staff
Saanich is one of the safest municipalities in the country to live, according to crime stats released by Statistics Canada. The municipality knocked 12.8-per-cent off its crime severity index (CSI), released in late July, which measures the seriousness of crime in 239 communities across Canada with populations greater than 10,000.
Saanich came in at No. 203, where the higher the number, the safer the community. Amherstburg, Ont., is statistically the safest place on the list with a ranking of 239. The least safe is North Battleford, Sask. Saanich’s crime severity index came in at 44.5 in 2011 versus 57.3 the year before. Unlike the crime rate, which measures volume of crime, with the CSI, each offence is assigned a weight, and the more serious offences have a greater impact. “(This result) is certainly a credit to the hardworking men and women of this organization,” said Saanich police Sgt. Dean Jantzen. While Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard applauded the officers in the munic-
“Our demographic is in our favour. There are fewer young men in their 20s than there used to be ...” –Frank Leonard Saanich mayor ipality, he said there’s more to decreasing crime than police work. It’s the communitybased approach to policing that makes a difference, he said. “We’ve got 115,000 people, almost all of them are our partners (against) crime. And if they feel that they have a community police department that’s open to their
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input, their advice, their partnership, they can help us prevent crime,” Leonard said. “We want our force to have more interaction with the good guys than the bad guys, and we put a lot of emphasis on it.” The mayor also said Saanich’s aging population plays a role in a low crime rate. “Our demographic is in our favour. There are fewer young men in their 20s than there used to be, and young men in their 20s tend to break the law,” he said. “I’ll give us some credit, but I’m realistic to know that the demographic is an advantage, as well.” PLEASE SEE: ????????, Page A??
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