I have lived in Lethbridge ever since I got married, which is 24 years, and I have to say the rising crime rate alarms me. Why? I don’t know, after all we are now at the 100,000 mark and with a rise in population comes a rise in crime.

I think what alarms me more than anything is the fact that the area I felt so safe in has now become a hive of criminal activity. In the last two months, and within a short drive from where we live, we have had a bike chop shop ring busted, a drug bust just around the corner, an attempted shooting (in an alley I walk my dog), and three attempted kidnappings of young children. The attempted kidnappings have been in the last week. Up until now the worst thing that happened was my next door neighbour, who terrorized the street for ten years in one form or another.

There are many people who will blame all of this on the NDP (before last election), unemployment in the oil fields, the opioid crisis, and/or the SCS (safe consumption site). As sad as it is for me to say, aside from the NDP, I think it is a combination of everything. Some people will go so far to say that it has something to do with certain ethnic groups, the homeless, or the legalization of marijuana. I am not certain if it does or not but I can say as I did in the beginning, which is, as the population rises so does the crime. Unfortunately, as the population in my end of the city increases it is bringing with it opioids, guns, kidnappings, theft, threats and constant police surveillance. I still feel safe but not as safe as I did a year or two ago.

When we first moved here I had no fear of walking after dark, nor did I have a fear of keeping my doors unlocked or getting to know my neighbours. These recent incidents have changed all of that and that saddens me. We picked this area because it was full of families with young children, a large backyard and plenty of parks. My kids could play outside after dark and I never had to worry, I could go to the mail box and mail a letter without having to lock my door, I could trust my neighbours with a door key when we went out of town, and I could sleep at night without worrying about someone trying to break in with a butcher knife or wondering who was out walking late at night.

I am sad to think that my neighbourhood has changed so much but even sadder to think that people can’t even trust one another anymore.

THAT’S MY LETHBRIDGE RANT AND I AM OUTTA HERE!