Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2018 (1941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Last month, downtown café Parlour Coffee suffered a break-in. About $600 was stolen from a safe, and there was property damage to the Main Street coffeehouse.

At first, owner Nils Vik did what most of us would do following a robbery — he got mad.

But then he decided he wasn’t going to get even.

Instead, the small-business owner opted for compassion and investment in community, choosing to take a proactive approach instead of a reactive one.

For the next year, Parlour Coffee will donate a percentage of its sales to Main Street Project. It will also use its social media presence to highlight the work being done at the Martha Street low-barrier shelter, which serves the city’s most vulnerable people.

The shop explained its decision via a post on its Facebook page, saying of the perpetrator: “(W)e do believe that they were in need; that a desperate situation led to their actions, and that they are therefore deserving of our compassion, and nothing less. We have to care more about the person or people who did this than we do about the money we lost.”

It is only natural to feel victimized by crime — even a non-violent incident such as a burglary is a violation. Our knee-jerk response is to seek retribution or even vengeance.

But an eye-for-an-eye approach to justice is rarely effective. Incarceration does not reduce recidivism (in fact, statistics show that jail time is linked with an increased tendency to reoffend). Criminologists largely agree that resources put into addressing the circumstances that lead to crime and violence — a “less law, more order” approach — see better results at lower cost to taxpayers.

Putting the emphasis on prevention, rather than punishment, is not some bleeding-heart liberal approach to justice: the Manitoba government’s crime prevention branch recognizes a long list of external (environmental, circumstantial) and internal (personal) risk factors that contribute to criminal behaviour, and actively works with social programs that help reduce those risks.

The idea that criminals are simply bad or evil people — scumbags with no respect for people or property — is both reductive and inaccurate. In fact, the choice to commit a crime is influenced by a complex web of factors that can include poverty, a history of abuse, unemployment, lack of family and community ties, substance abuse, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, peer pressure, gang involvement and lack of schooling, to name but a few.

The work done at Main Street Project aims to address many of these issues. More than a shelter, the non-profit organization helps clients find housing, address addiction issues and link up with social services.

But supporting social agencies isn’t just about preventing crime. In the wake of his decision to donate to the shelter, Mr. Vik told local media, “I am thankful for a kick in the butt to make our business a little more integrated into the community and make some change.”

That sentiment is one other businesses that want to be part of downtown revitalization should seriously consider. Becoming part of a community isn’t just opening your doors to customers; it’s opening your heart to the people in the neighbourhood, even those without the means to purchase your product.

And socially conscious choices can also be good for business: Parlour’s Facebook post was flooded with positive messages.

That’s a win-win.