By Cheryl Jahn

New provincial crime initiative gets mixed reviews

May 30, 2025 | 3:42 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Downtown Crime The downtown is a hot button issue when it comes to crime, and today, the Province announced some relief in the form of the Community Safety and Targetted Enforcement program, with funding up to five million dollars for enhanced policing tools, technologies and investigative resources.

It’s getting a mixed review from one downtown business advocate.

“We’ve seen announcements out of the province before in that announcement,” says John Zukowski with the Downtown Business Advocacy Group. “There’s no substance. I want to wait and see. What is the initiative? I mean, an announcement is an announcement.”

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Zukowki is a member of Council’s Public Safety Committee, as is Councillor Trudy Klassen, who also has plenty of questions.

“We are already overstressed and overworked, and we’re all drowning in the issues of sort of street disorder and the crime and the theft from our downtown retailers, especially. And so it just seems that maybe an easier way to do this could have been found. But I mean, having said that, of course, we were grateful for any additional help.”

“Through C-STEP, police can strengthen operations that address street crimes, such as robbery, shoplifting, theft and property damage, and the associated impacts on public safety, community well-being and the growth of B.C.’s economy,” notes the provincial news release.

In the meantime, Councillor Klassen says, while every little bit helps, the City must continue to lobby for more.

“I would like to see us just say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, province. You know what we actually need is a secure forensic facility here in Prince George because we need to find a way to for those people who need that kind of care and who aren’t being like, we can’t treat them properly in the hospital.’ So I think that’s something that we’ll continue to push on.”

And Zukowski points out that this is a provincial initiative, when it is a federal problem.

“This is a federal issue. The federal government changed it, repealed a lot of the laws that were put in place to protect the general public as a whole from individuals who have long criminal histories. Alot of those laws were repealed. This is a federal issue. Until the federal government turns around and goes back over the laws and changes the criminal code, it doesn’t matter what we do, we’re just chasing our own tail.”