Although violent crimes draw headlines and greatly influence the public’s sense of safety, it is the everyday crimes that often impact our community’s quality of life. Vandalism, shoplifting and open drug use can diminish our neighborhoods and are especially costly for small businesses.
Because of that, it is admirable that the Greater Vancouver Chamber this week gathered business leaders to discuss their concerns. A sense of community and shared efforts are essential to combating crimes both large and small.
“There’s been a tremendous amount of attention on what the contributing factors are to these situations that we find ourselves in,” chamber President and CEO John McDonagh said. “And knowing the many drivers creating why we’re here this morning, it’s time to learn what as business owners we can do to help mitigate those and prevent the incidents from happening in our businesses.”
Contributing factors can be debated without end. The COVID-19 pandemic has, in myriad ways, altered the social contract under which our communities thrive, and one of the results is an increase in crime.
This has been seen throughout the country, and we will leave it to the sociologists to examine the reasons. But it is worth noting that, despite all the media attention on both violent and nonviolent crime — and despite the use of crime statistics as a political wedge — crime remains less prevalent than it was during the 1990s. Violent crime rates remain lower than they were 35 years ago, even after an uptick during the pandemic.
Of course, national trends in violent crime mean little to a business owner who has to deal with graffiti painted on a building. A survey in conjunction with the meeting of local business leaders found that 41 of 60 respondents said their businesses had been vandalized. Retail outlets also are increasingly dealing with theft, and law enforcement officials say this often is the work of organized enterprises rather than a single perpetrator.
The Legislature this year fully funded a request from state Attorney General Bob Ferguson to create an Organized Retail Crime Unit. The 10-person unit will, according to Ferguson’s office, “assist with investigations — including coordinating them across multiple jurisdictions — and deploy resources where they are most needed. The unit will also be able to prosecute cases referred to the office by county prosecutors.”
Ferguson said: “These are not petty thefts. These are multijurisdictional, organized crime rings that endanger the safety of employees and customers, damage our economy, and drive up costs for all Washingtonians. This centralized, statewide unit will serve as a force multiplier to combat these sophisticated crimes and hold the perpetrators accountable.”
Holding perpetrators accountable requires a communal effort. That includes the reporting of crimes by business owners, even minor vandalism. Law enforcement officials cannot target resources and responses unless they know where crime is occurring.
It also includes an examination of law enforcement staffing throughout the state. Washington has one of the country’s lowest rate of officers per capita, and Vancouver and Clark County have among the lowest rates in the state.
But most important is a holistic approach that suggests investing in cleaning up neighborhoods and business districts is essential to reducing both violent crimes and property crimes. Various studies have shown that a sense of community results in lower crime rates. In other words, when it comes to crime, we’re all in this together.
