Alberta_Rose

I was not meaning to be "scarmongering" or even scaremongering! While I recognise that Calgary has lower crime rates than many cities, I personally never had my car vandalised in Sussex and it did happen here! You could argue that there was a far greater risk of that happening in Brighton or elsewhere, but that to me is beside the point.

You are right ... it can happen anywhere, and that's really what I was saying to those people who appear convinced that Canada is free from scum and crime.

You, ARH, have only been here since August so you may not appreciate how the general feeling of the place is changing over the last 5 years, as Steve has confirmed. When we first came over a story of a lost and found cat would have made front-page news!

Now people are warned that they must lock up their valuables, close their garages, not leave their cars unlocked with the engine running while they do their weekly shop at Safeways.

You are probably amazed that anyone would need to be told that, but the fact remains that when we first came here all these things were commonplace, because the bad stuff really didn't happen as much as it does now. Sad. It makes me sad and angry that the seniors that I deal with have to be afraid and worried about this rot now, and it didn't used to be like that, really not so very long ago.

Kittykerr

im not saying i dont like facing crime or criminals, nothing please me more than locking them up. and the lack of satisfaction in the UK is another reason i left, spending hours only for them to get off with zero punishment, but thats another story.

however i would rather keep it in work and live somewhere where it wont affect me outside of it.

now im sure your view of Hereford is a good one. as is mine. its a lovely place to live compared to most of the UK. however i do not make this up when i say it is a violent city. for its size its terrible. take a walk down commercial road any weekend night and see for yourself.

the average officer in hereford would be dealing with 10 to 20 crimes at a time, and thats every officer on every shift. and from personal experience approx 70% would be assaults.

the point i was making, is although Hereford is good compared to most of the UK, its terrible for its small size. and compared to Calgary which is over 20 times the size i would feel safer in Calgary than in hereford.

the one good thing for hereford is very low vehicle crime. i loved being able to leave my car in town with a low risk of it getting damaged/nicked, which unfortately is a VERY rare thing in the UK now. most police forces have so many vehicle crimes they wont/cant send an officer. hereford was and is lucky in this respect.


but if you dont believe me on the other figures, im sure i could dig them up. things got so bad in Hereford with regards to violence we were taught ways by senior management how to cook the books to make them seem lower. for instance drunk and disorderly is not classed as violence, so if someone was fighting whilst drunk we would try and make it just a D&D so it didnt add to the violent crime figures.

and if you are a shop keeper, you must be very lucky to have not at least suffered damage to your premises or regular theft. here in cochrane a shoplifter makes a full page in the local paper! in Hereford, and indeed the rest of the UK they dont even get arrested normally, just an on the spot fine.

and as for the 100's of fights a day, was a typo, i meant 10's of fights a day, but believe me a 100 a day has happened before now. i dont know if you ever saw the after effects of the special offer thursday nights about 4 years ago. £5 admission to the clubs, then free drinks all night. well put it this way it fitted the legal definition of a riot. and we would have literally running battles in the streets at closing time.

im sorry if you disagree with anything i have said, but feel free to apply to the police for figures under the freedom of information act and you may be suprised.

ARH

I thought this was a topic on crime, not spelling!

I know I've only been here since August, but I've been here before and have been in contact with people way before I arrived. Sure crime has increased here, but it's no different to any other expanding city.

My point is that wherever you go in the world, crime is likely to be increasing in one form or another, it's a consequence of a modern society. Risk is not beside the point at all, if you take steps to reduce the risk - stay away from dodgy areas, lock your front door, don't leave your IPod on show in your car - you are less likely to be a victim of crime.

Alberta_Rose

If you are going to be critical of me you have to spell it right!!!!