Ponoka Mayor continues push for safer communities

PONOKA -- Ponoka Mayor Kevin Ferguson discussed his recent letter to Canada's Justice Minister in conversation with 89.7 The One.

The letter penned to Minister Sean Fraser last month calls for amendments to Canada's justice system amid a rise in crime and disorder driven by repeat offenders. In the letter, Ferguson cites an incident from late November which saw a local condo building burglarized five times by the same offenders over the course of eight days. One of the perpetrators had already amassed 43 charges in Edmonton prior to his arrest in Ponoka, where he was charged with seven additional offences.

"I really do think that if we can get prolific offences solved -- or have that moving in a different direction -- I think we would be well on our way to probably not solving all of our issues, but at least mitigating a number of them," said Ferguson. "That was the whole idea behind this particular letter."

Through recent meetings, Ferguson notes that he has also sensed a level of frustration with local law enforcement, who often spend much of their operational hours chasing down the same offenders on a regular basis. He says that forcing police to re-arrest the same perpetrators repeatedly has also had adverse effects on costs for municipalities. 

"If you're using those same constables or officers to chase the same person over and over again, then it doesn't seem to me to make practical fiscal sense," said Ferguson.

In addition to the financial impacts caused by repeat offenders, Mayor Ferguson also notes in his letter that there are societal costs as well, including the possible erosion of public confidence and trust in the criminal justice system. He adds that Ponoka residents frequently express that they have lost confidence in law enforcement as well as the ability of the system to protect them. 

"If we could get some meaningful conversation around prolific offenders -- some meaningful ideas percolating around prolific offenders -- I do believe we could bring our crime rates down even further," said Ferguson.

While crime in Ponoka has been on the decline, the mayor says that more work is needed from lawmakers at the federal level.