Fear of danger greater than danger

In Transit by Chris Phalen

Published: March 09, 2009 5:03 a.m.

Last modified: March 09, 2009 12:05 a.m.

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Refuge from fear and uneasiness among the majority of transit riders and employees isn’t coming in the wake of reported declining transit crime statistics.

Convincing patrons our transit system is already safe remains a big challenge for Brian Whitelaw, the director of safety and security at Calgary Transit.

With a projected 27 recommendations looming from the Intervistas security audit to be presented to council March 19, and crime reported lower on transit, it seems a balancing act might be needed to sort out the reality.

Aldermen should stop reacting to public fear and forget about handing over transit jurisdiction to the police, which would be a complete waste of time, money and resources.

Peace officers are sufficiently trained and equipped to handle the majority of trouble occurring in the transit system.

We shouldn’t create problems that don’t exist and we should trust transit security that, even without an external audit, has been working proactively for our comfort.

Chances of victimization are already low, but riders’ senses of personal safety can be overcome with a concept called a “reassurance gap,” which is false conceptualization between the real safety conditions and the perceived safety conditions, according to Whitelaw.

And although completely justified, what we might deem unsafe on transit doesn’t necessarily mean we are vulnerable.

“Our focus is to remove the visual signs of anti-social behaviours on the entire transit system,” White-law said.

And new peace officer deployment tactics like more visible nighttime platform patrols and more presence at bus malls and stops will help ease the less tolerant customer when sketchy characters invade transit space.

I believe Calgary Transit is a safe system, and I believe the implementation of security audit recommendations will make it even safer.

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