Vancouver: City of Thieves

I live in a security conscious complex on Beach in Vancouver Westend with locked underground parking. Today my truck was broken into. It's the second time in a couple of years. I phoned the manager to learn that a half dozen cars had been violated last night. She'd phoned the police and they'd told her there was an epidemic in the area this last week. No doubt the thieves are holding academy training sessions in preparation for the 2010 Olympics. Likely too all man ner of theives are coming to Vancouver for that event expecting to compete in pilfering and violation along with all the other olympic athletes.

Unfortunately the police increasingly seem to be solely or wholly involved in city tax collection looking for minor violations to various codes which they can then use to 'bill' the tax paying citizens. Criminals are the least of their concerns. Indeed, if it weren't for crime they'd be out of work. Crime encourages voters to want more police and then the government has more tax collectors. Obviously if the city was denied the use of police for anything but crime fighting we'd have a safe city but then the white collar criminals would no doubt turn to blue collar crime. It's not an easily fixed system.

This recent rash of crime may well be secondary to the Campbell government denying the poor housing and food and other luxuries with their new corporate budgets resulting in more criminals. Besides "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".

Vancouver remains a leading city for car theft. When I lived in Shaughnassey, one of the richest areas of the city, I finally installed cameras and house alarms after multiple break ins while I was at work. I imagined the insurance agents running a shuttle service for the East Vancouver thieves to be taken daily to their shopping mall, Shaughnassey. Every claim made to an insurance company resulted in rates going up. My friend had his house broken into so many times that he stopped carrying insurance and left the door open so he wouldn't have to pay for the repairs. In Shaughnassey the family heirlooms went, the irreplaceable mementos of great grandparent history that now, called "antigues" fetched a fine underground economy dollar. War medals of relatives made it from theives to the even lower form of insect called 'fences'. My musician friend lost his hand made violin. Now noone will appreciate the love that went into the making and the sound will be that of a stolen bird.

The heroin addiction population routinely steal at least a thousand dollars a day to get ten cents on the dollar for a hundred dollar a day drug habit. It works out to a half million dollars a year saving at least for every heroin addict placed on methadone. The addict may 'chip' here and there with extra drugs but the dealers don't get their steady non taxable income. An enlightened legal program would require methadone maintenance for any '100 time loser' heroin addict thief released to the community. They are known and personally I'd rather see their faces advertised than pedophiles. Then maybe I'd know who was dumpster diving in my neighbourhood as a cover for their other activities. I don't have children and don't think the pedophiles are casing my building and underground parking but I know the thieves have better surveillance on it than the police have on them.

The expression "as above, so below' is an old medieval saying. Is the street theivery just a reflection of the political theivery. If there was any morality at the top then there might be some morality on the streets. I don't keep valuables in my vehicles. Why have valuables when you can't protect them anyway. Insurance never covers the real loss. Couldn't we require that the attourney general's budget be docked to the value of every theft so that the state might finally have some incentive to do something about theft. It's not just the violation but the last time I lost a day getting the door in to have the lock fixed and then spent another day shopping for emergency materials, like flashlights and shovels I keep in my car for 'safety'. No doubt the theives need these to bury their loot at night in Stanley Park.

Could we not also require all those political leaders living in the dachaus of safe well patrolled British Properties to live a week elsewhere in Vancouver so that they could have an invested interest in the city they so successfully exploit. Also could it not be a requirement for Victoria's Parliamentarians in general to vist Vancouver and park their cars in this city, if only for one night, just to give the thieves a little exotic variety.

Alright I'm angry. I pay taxes and wonder what for as usual. I invest in all the security I reasonably can but I'm supposed to rely upon my government to 'protect' me and my property. When I told the police my truck was broken in last time they told me not to keep anything in my truck. What was stolen was the emergency equipment like flashlights, shovels and rope I kept in my truck for other kinds of emergencies. The rental SUV I had for when my truck door was being repaired was broken into too. It had nothing in it and the rental company had to replace the broken lock. The police however seemed to think that 'blaming the victim' (it's your fault you work and have possessions that thieves steal from you) is why they get my taxes.

Why work when it's much more lucrative to steal. The laws protect the criminals and we all feel sorry for the offenders who naturally were offended against themselves. No doubt the thief who stole from me was a single mother immigrant woman from a war torn country who was gang raped by a military junta as a teen ager and she's now married to a mobster her beats her and she was just doing break and entries to get drugs because the cruel state doesn't supply her ecstacy for free. My street nurse friend working Vancouver East side said the greatest problems were the predators and thieves who harrass and steal from the poor street people and are naturally well known to the police who merely 'record' their crimes too.

The Attorney General is Michael de Jong. He's personally responsible for being easy on criminals and interestingly comes from Abbotsford , the car theft capital of Canada. He's also a lawyer and the greatest weakness of the Canadian Democratic System is that Lawyers are allowed to be Attourney Generals. Ministers of Health are no longer required to be doctors but when we've had a lawyer as Minister of Health all hell has broken lose. It's really time other citizens were Attorney Generals because, quite frankly, there won't be a solution to crime in British Columbia until the system that perpetuates crime changes fundamentally. The police say that the Attorney General has tied their hands. I would accept this if they didn't have their hands free for speeding and parking violations.

Still the problem is Michael de Jong's and later today after I speak to the police I will send a note to Michael de Jong and would recommend that everyone who is violated in British Columbia report the crime to him directly because like most people in government who have power they've protected themselves from hearing the people by a group of lackeys who are only highly paid to protect their ministers from the citizens complaints. I wonder when Michael de Jong's car was last broken into or stolen. Perhaps a picture of it could be put out there and the thieves could practice on that rather than doing their 2010 training on trucks like mine.