Samson Looks To Justice Minister To Curb Rise In Violent Crime
(Halifax, NS) Liberal justice critic Michel Samson says violent crime rates will continue to rise unless the NDP Justice Minister puts more emphasis on the relationship between the province’s communities and its police officers.“When we see our crime rates increasing, it underlines a disconnect between Nova Scotia’s communities and their officers,” says Samson. “The public is hesitant to report what they know about violent crimes to the police out of fear of retribution - it’s a cycle that needs to broken.”
Samson is concerned that Minister Landry appears to be moving away from community-based policing.
“During budget estimates in the fall, the minister indicated that in his view, community policing wasn’t effective and that he preferred to focus on the province’s borders,” Samson states. “The fact of the matter is violent crime is increasing and it’s occurring within our communities, within our urban centres - abandoning those communities isn’t the answer.”
With 199 officers for every 100,000 people, Nova Scotia has the highest ratio of police to citizens in the country. Samson believes that given the level and quality of policing in the province, the growth in the crime rate illustrates that the Minister isn’t using his officers or his resources effectively.
“There is no doubt that Nova Scotia has some of the best police forces in the country,” says Samson. “The problem is that our officers’ aren’t being put in a position to succeed and that makes their jobs much more difficult.”
“Our police officers need to be a part of their communities and our communities have to know their officers - a move away from this approach means crime will continue to rise.”
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